Let Your Love Grow
by Sultry Sweet
Summary: Regina knew what she was supposed to do, but it was not a simple task. Not when an arrangement turned into something more genuine with Princess Emma. / Swan Queen Week Jan. 2015, Day 3: Arranged Marriage
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: TRIGGER WARNING for abuse. I promise this story has a happy ending. It also has three chapters so look forward to two more updates. Hopefully completed before tomorrow because I have another fic for the day 4 prompt to finish. Rated M to be safe due to the abuse.**

* * *

When they met they were both young, about a year or two shy from marrying age in the Enchanted Forest, and they were complete opposites. Regina was shy and Emma was detached. What they had in common was that neither wanted to be forced into marriage.

Emma was happy to be by herself, at least for a number of years to come, and Regina wanted love. An arranged marriage bound two people—strangers, really—together, which kept Emma from her independence, and it had nothing to do with love. The truth about arranged marriages were the only reason Emma and Regina didn't automatically click. It was a forced meeting and it didn't matter whether they even really liked each other or not. If their parents agreed upon and so chose it, they would be wed within the next couple of years. How soon the ceremony would take place depended on each family's standing in the kingdom. The more desperate a family was to ensure a marital bond to another family that could better their position in the royal government, the quicker the marriage happened. If there was no rush, the families explored other options while they decided which match would best suit them and their needs.

While their parents talked, Regina and Emma went off on their own—as expected—and usually when the two people being arranged to marry were alone together, they spent that time getting to know each other. In Emma and Regina's case, they hardly spoke at first. They'd been through the charade a couple times before—meet and greet a potential spouse and try to make even the smallest connection with them—so they used as few words as possible in the other's presence while they each remained in their own heads. Neither of them could get past what kind of things were being said and planned between their parents and no matter how many times they went through it, neither girl appreciated the business of loveless marriages for some kind of emotionless, political or monetary gain on each family's behalf.

As they walked along the beach located behind the guarded palace in utter silence, each princess spared glances at the other in a decision to at least appreciate their appearances. It was about the only thing they had to appreciate about the circumstances of their time together and secretly each had a list of things to appreciate about the other's looks.

Regina was fit with smooth, olive-toned skin and long, brunette hair that flowed around her shoulders and curled at the tips that covered her chest, and intriguing, alluring, dark chocolate eyes. Emma was a little more athletic with her toned muscles. She had fair skin and long, golden blonde hair that stopped just past her own chest. Her hair was almost curled, but not just at the tips. Her hair coiled around itself and shined brightly in the sunlight like it was the sun itself. Emma's eyes looked deceivingly green, but upon closer look they were actually blue. Both were stunning and both knew the other was primped to perfection for an attractive presentation for each other and their families. They needed to look desirable, but pure and good natured. Everything had to be flawless for the arrangement to work. No virtue, no marriage. Damaged goods, and not just in the sense of a woman's virtue, were bad. Insufficient dowries were considered unacceptable. Appearance was important, but there were a lot of different factors into finding a perfect match that had nothing to do with emotions such as love or even mutual liking.

When their parents seemed to be taking longer than any of the times arrangements had been attempted for either of them before, they found something to discuss.

"Things must be going well if they haven't sent for us yet," Regina said while they continued to walk along the shore.

"So it seems," Emma gloomily stated.

"I assume you've been through this before?"

"Yes. Have you?"

"A couple of times," Regina nodded.

"Anyone you like?"

Regina shook her head.

"Me either," Emma admitted. "There was this one guy, Baelfire, but he wasn't a suitor of mine. I met him when our carriage wheel cracked in the middle of a journey back to the palace after meeting with a prince. Never saw Baelfire again, though."

"My stable boy is really sweet," Regina decided to keep up with the topic. "He and I spend a lot of time talking when I go for my riding lessons."

Emma smiled.

"But he's a stable boy. Your parents would never approve that match, just as mine would never approve my match with Baelfire."

"It appears we have something in common," Regina smiled back.

As they continued to talk, they steered further from the subject of arranged marriage and boys they liked and actually did the one thing neither expected they would do that day: learn about each other.

"I love horses," Regina told Emma.

"I bet it's because of your cute stable boy."

"No, actually I've loved horses long before he came along. I find riding to be very relaxing. Freeing, really. The wind in my hair, exploring new places, almost being one with the horse as we ride. In fact, my steed is my best friend. He has been since I was a child."

"What is his name?"

"Rocinante," Regina beamed, happy to talk about her beautiful horse. "He is kind and very friendly. He has dark hair and we're very in tune with each other."

Emma smiled even as she listened to Regina dominate the conversation. Regina looked so carefree and blissful when she spoke of her steed and Emma could tell she loved the animal more than she might possibly have been able to love another human being aside from her own parents.

"I practice with the guards," Emma explained when Regina asked what she liked to do for fun after she confessed she wasn't much for horseback riding. "I've taken down a few of the younger guards in a fight."

Regina's eyes went wide at the thought.

"And your parents don't worry you'll be hurt?"

"Oh, all the time. My father approves more than my mother, but they both fear I'll either injure myself or take a practice fight too far."

"That sounds nice."

Confusion flashed across Emma's features.

"That your parents support what you love to do even though they have their doubts about your safety," Regina elaborated on her previous statement.

"Your parents don't support your riding?"

"My father enjoys watching me because he says he sees that it makes me happy and that's all he wants for me. To be happy. My mother disapproves of the way I choose to ride. As a lady I'm supposed to learn to ride side saddle, but I don't agree that that is even _riding_."

Emma chuckled.

"So your mother is hard to handle, but your father…?"

"He's wonderful. He and I do a lot of things behind my mother's back."

"Such as?"

"He taught me Spanish and now we speak it with each other when she's not around. Then there are the late night snacks a lady should never indulge in if she expects to wed, according to Mother. My mother also used to deny me bedtime stories because it was 'foolish to fill a person's head with fantasies'. While my father accepts what I want, accepts me and all the choices I make. He's there for me and my mother just criticizes everything I do."

"My mother can be like that sometimes too. My father and I are like old pals. We laugh at each other's jokes and often share similar opinions and my mother doesn't really understand it. I feel close to both of them, and I love both of them equally, but sometimes I think I have a better connection to my father."

"I suppose that's something else we have in common then," Regina asked with a small and adorably cute smile.

"It sounds that way, doesn't it," Emma phrased the question like a statement.

They stopped at a log and sat down in front of the gently crashing waves. They abandoned their heels and stuck their toes in the sand while Regina started to braid a part of her silky brunette hair. It was a small section hidden behind her ear in a place covered by layers of hair to keep her mother from noticing. The motion of Regina's hands caught Emma's immediate attention and the blonde perked up.

"Will you braid my hair," Emma asked. "I love braids, but I hate the ones my maids give me. They only braid my hair for special occasions and they never really fit my style."

"Do you have a hair tie or pin?"

Emma nodded and rolled a hair tie off her ankle.

"You know that will stretch it, right," Regina commented.

"I had to hide it somewhere. My parents would never let me leave my chamber with it on my wrist," Emma explained before she dramatically changed her body language and pitch upon continuing. "It would never look presentable for these kinds of things."

Regina laughed and took the hair tie from Emma.

"I assume that is what your mother said."

"Of course. My father knows nothing of a lady's routines and preparations."

Regina softly laughed and looked Emma over before she started to guide Emma's head one direction or the other with a finger to the blonde's chin. After a moment, she let go of Emma's chin and got to work. The two of them continued to talk about things like how Regina gets a little emotional if she hasn't eaten in a while and how Emma constantly eats. They talked and talked while Regina twisted Emma's hair together with expert fingers and even though they started off in awkward silence, they truly enjoyed themselves.

A fast friendship was easily formed and though they didn't get too far in depth, it was only their first meeting. What they knew about each other at that moment was enough for them to know they liked each other and they were intrigued to find out what their lives could be if they had each other to talk to about things they usual kept to themselves.

The sun was in its early stages of descent behind the horizon when Emma's parents called them back to the palace by way of a guard that delivered the message and walked them back inside.

"It's been a pleasure, dears," Cora said with a big, bright—too bright—smile.

Regina's expression changed to look the exact opposite of her mother's. She looked to her father who faked a few smiles as he shook the King and Queen's hands. When his part of pleasant and polite goodbyes was over, he looked to his daughter and he seemed a little worried. By the look on Cora's face, Regina figured he had a good reason to seem worrisome.

"We'll be in touch," the King promised, and Regina saw her mother's eyes shine with predatory delight.

Regina felt dread weigh her down like an albatross secured to her body. She collected herself long enough to properly say goodbye to the entire family then went home with her parents and a sickening gut feeling things wouldn't be as simple as being Princess Emma's friend while they endure more arrangements attempted on their behalves.

When Cora Mills revealed the plan she had for the White Kingdom, Regina knew for sure it would never be that easy.

* * *

Their parents had remained in contact after their first meeting, but it wasn't until a year later that Emma and Regina saw each other again. Emma was newly seventeen and Regina was three months into her eighteenth year of life. A gathering at the White's Summer Palace brought Cora and Regina back to the family of three.

Emma's hair was about the same length, still as golden blonde as before, but Regina's hair was slightly shorter and a little curlier than last year. Her curls were natural and Emma's were more wavy than curly that day. Both were still very stunning, but they looked just that little bit older and more mature.

"Where's your father," Emma asked right away when she noticed the man's absence.

"He unfortunately couldn't make the trip," Cora answered for her. "His health has become a bit of an issue in the past year. The carriage ride would have been a little too exciting for his body to handle."

Regina trained her eyes on the floor and dutifully remained silent.

Emma kindly ushered Regina away from boring talk they each knew their parents would eventually get into and once they were alone, the blonde showed Regina a look of concern when she didn't see the brunette's smile or twinkling eyes.

"Is everything alright?"

Regina hesitated and slowly contorted her face from one of indifference to one of tamped down bitterness.

"Everything was fine until I was forced back here to make more small talk with you," Regina growled.

Emma frowned and her expression changed to one of confusion.

"I thought you would be happy to return. After our last conversation I thought we could be friends."

"The last time we spoke, my stable boy was still my stable boy. He was excused from his position and replaced with a much older man who yells constantly if I ride…like a man."

"No, you can't possibly ride like a man," Emma grinned. "I think you would be captivating to watch when riding."

Regina almost blushed at the double meaning, but cleared her throat and stood stiffly before the other princess.

"Regina, tell me what's wrong. This isn't like you."

"You don't even know me! We had one conversation a year ago," Regina shouted.

"What is going on here," Snow questioned as she stormed in with her husband and Cora, even more displeased than the Queen, hot on her heels.

"Nothing," Emma lied. "Regina's a little hungry and she gets cranky when she's hungry."

"No amount of food will make me change my attitude toward you," Regina spat.

Emma looked hurt and still so very confused.

"You cannot give our potential family a future. There would _be _no family," Regina continued. "I want a child and with you I cannot bear one. Marrying you will rob me of everything I so desire. To wed you would be a mistake."

"I will not have you speak to my daughter that way," Charming yelled and advanced toward Regina.

Emma shook her head and stepped between the two of them.

"It's okay, Father. She needs a little time to get used to the idea. Bearing an heir has been all of our recent concerns as well, remember?"

"As true as that may be," Snow started to say.

"Worry not," Cora cut in. "If you'll still have us for supper, I will reteach my daughter the manners she's so foolishly forgotten."

Cora shot Regina a glare full of non-existent daggers that would have sliced Regina up if Cora had used real daggers with her magic to accompany that glare.

Snow and Charming didn't seem convinced.

"Please," Emma spoke up. "Let them stay. They just arrived and it has been a year. There is much to catch up on and if they stay here as planned, Regina and I should have plenty of time to warm up to each other."

"Very well," Snow sighed.

"We'll have one of the handmaids show you to your chambers," Charming grudgingly said.

"Thank you," Cora responded with a simple and effortlessly faked smile. "I truly apologize for my daughter's behavior."

Cora aggressively hurried Regina up to her temporary chamber at the White's Palace as they followed the handmaid to their new dwellings. Before Cora could be shown to her own chamber, she shooed away the handmaid and said she would find her later for directions.

Being alone in a room with Cora, no matter who's palace or what their surroundings, was never anything good. Regina never looked forward to private time with her mother and if anyone ever saw what Cora did to her behind closed doors they would understand why.

Cora geared up her magic as soon as the door closed and in the time of a single inhale, Regina hit the far wall with a heavy thud. Immediately, Regina's eyes filled with fear and she tensed just before Cora's first blow. Tensing was always a mistake, but it was instinctive and she had yet to train herself to relax into each hit.

That time, Cora found use—yet again—for a belt she summoned from a nearby location. It was made of a tough leather so it was thicker than Regina predicted considering Cora only had access to what was in the room at the White's palace and not Cora's own personal supply of toys for punishment. Between magic and man-made objects, Regina had no reprieve during the abuse. Each crack of the belt left red marks over her thighs and stomach. It was customary for Cora to hike up her skirts or remove her outfits completely to hurt Regina where no one would see. It was common practice to have whipping boys or mead out simple spankings or even use wooden sticks to the arms, but Cora seemed to take immense pleasure in Regina's pain, pain created from the imaginative mind of a powerful and insane woman willing to do anything and everything to move her way up the royal ranks.

Three smacks of the belt to her exposed stomach happened in less than two seconds of each other. Invisibly bound to the wall by her mother's magic, Regina whimpered and tried her hardest to bite back sobs ready to tumble past her lips.

"I thought you understood what was to happen," Cora said with notable fury in her dark eyes. "Please the girl and her parents and ensure the wedding happens."

Cora adjusted her magical hold on Regina and lifted and pinned the brunette's hands on either side of her head. She squeezed and pushed them hard into the wall then slapped the belt against the outside of Regina's thigh.

Regina gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. She fought back even the tiniest noise of pain, because her expression revealed how she felt well enough. Another crack of the belt against Regina's stomach and the sting of multiple hits to the same area had Regina cry out.

"Why must you ruin everything," Cora asked. "This is a good deal for you, Regina. She's much closer to you in age than anyone else you could be paired with and I'm sure your wedding night will be more enjoyable with the princess than the brute you could otherwise end up with if this should fail."

Regina's chin almost wobbled due to the tears she continued to hold back.

"Or are you a filthy wench who _likes _it rough," Cora asked before she whipped the belt against her hip.

Regina squeezed her eyes shut and a little sob escaped past her lips.

Cora smacked the belt in the valley between her breasts.

Regina let out a choked whimper while she tried to keep her mouth shut so she wasn't too loud. A tear hurriedly fell down her check.

"Do you understand what needs to happen now," Cora asked while she kept the belt at the ready to hurt her, but refrained while she awaited an answer.

Regina nodded.

"Tell me the plan so I know you really do understand."

Regina took a deep breath then responded with, "Get the family to favor me over anyone else, marry the princess, make their deaths look like an accident, obtain control of the throne."

"Good girl," Cora said and cased all magic use.

Regina dropped to the floor in seconds just as the lack of magic had the same effect on the belt.

"Now redress yourself and meet us all downstairs when you're presentable."

Cora swiftly left the chamber with her head held incredibly high while Regina ached and curled into herself on the floor.

* * *

At supper, Cora intently watched Regina who was tense but on her best behavior. The brunette was seated beside the blonde while Cora sat across from them and Emma's parents were at either end of the table. Their meal was eaten in silence and the tension in the air was thick. It was awkward and not at all how Regina saw the evening going.

When Cora's attention was on something other than Regina, Emma grabbed the brunette's hand under the table. She gave it a supportive squeeze and kept her focus on Regina even though Regina kept her eyes down, fixated on the edge of the table, and avoided eye contact.

Dinner seemed to stretch on and on and while Regina didn't mind, actually even appreciated, the hand holding under the table, she wanted to flee from the room. She wanted to get as far from Cora as she could and she didn't want to play nice with the Whites. What she really wanted more than anything in that moment was to go home and see her father. Her father who had finally stood up for her against Cora and paid the price.

He wasn't ill, though his body probably couldn't withstand the trip to the Summer Palace with them as Cora had told everyone. The only difference in her story was that she forgot to mention he laid on his bed in terrible shape because of her unholy dark magic. Regina would also soon join him if she wasn't careful.

As soon as the meal was finished and Regina could finally and properly excuse herself, she darted out of the room and hurried up to her temporary chamber. During her almost sprint toward the stairs, she missed Emma's concerned expression and the way she eased her parents' fears about the odd and unlikable behavior before Emma excused herself and followed after the brunette.

Regina was about to shut the chamber door, but a kicked out foot stopped it from fully closing.

"Regina?"

Regina gasped and spun around to face Emma who looked deeply concerned as she stared straight into Regina's eyes. The intense eye contact made Regina gulp under Emma's scrutiny.

"Please," Regina quietly begged. "Leave me, Princess."

Emma shook her head and wedged her way through the door's opening and entered the room. She closed the door behind herself and Regina sighed before she crossed the chamber then sat on the edge of the bed.

Emma took a few steps closer to Regina when the brunette sat down, but she still kept half a room's worth of space between them.

"I know this isn't what either of us really wanted," Emma started to say, and she looked sad as she spoke the words, her voice slightly cracked and wavered. "But even if we don't love each other, we can be friends. A marriage between friends is better than any of our other options, isn't it?"

Regina knew she was right. She wouldn't mind being married to a friend because she could trust a friend with her life and her heart, but it wasn't the point. If Emma was indeed her friend then she definitely had to get out of the arrangement. Friends didn't let friends suffer the way Emma would if they bound themselves together.

"Maybe…maybe you still need some time to adjust," Emma continued, "but don't push me away. I will give you all the time you need to come around to the idea of our union and I want you to know…I just want to be your friend."

All the beatings Cora had doled out before dinner and Regina felt more hurt, ached in new and excruciating ways, by Emma's smallness as she professed her desire to keep Regina around even though she had no idea how much trouble the girl really was. Daniel knew. He figured out that Regina was a dark spot in his life, but he told her he understood it was because of her mother. He stuck by her, but one night when she tried to run away with him Cora had caught them. Her mother was displeased and before the woman could do anything to the stable boy she'd fallen for, she pleaded with him to run as fast and as far as he could from her.

"_I love you, Daniel. That is why you have to leave. She will never stop and I don't want anything to happen to you. Go!"_

_He refused at first, but Cora approached and she had a twisted, sinister glint in her eyes, her lips curled into a crooked grin. Then Daniel truly feared the woman. He feared her enough to give Regina one last look with apologetic blue eyes and touched her arm as the only physical contact they could and did have before he disappeared into the forest in the dead of night._

"_I don't want to leave you with her," Daniel said before he left. _

"_It is the only way," Regina sadly said. "She will let me live. She needs me. She doesn't need you. Please. Go."_

"_I love you."_

_Then he was gone, ran off and left Regina with a surge of cold air as he whooshed past her. Alone with her mother once again, she was strung up in the stable where she normally would tack Rocinante. She still had a scar on her upper lip to serve as a reminder of that dreadful, painful night and as a reminder not to go against Mother's wishes._

As Emma stood there a moment after her confession, Regina realized she had a choice to make. Should she tell Emma she wanted to be friends too and give the blonde princess hope that Regina didn't absolutely detest her? Or should she keep Emma at arm's length to ensure things didn't end badly for Emma and her family like things had ended bitterly the night Daniel ran?

_I have to protect her_, Regina thought, and her mind was then made up.

"Okay," Regina simply responded. "You want to be friends? I can't do that just yet. When you give me time to accept our betrothal, with it may come my friendship, but not before. Not just yet and maybe not ever."

Emma flashed a small but strongly hopeful smile.

"Okay," Emma agreed with a nod. "See you tomorrow."

Emma spun around and gave Regina the night to herself as she left the brunette's provided chamber.

The look on Emma's face before she left, that spark of hope, burned into Regina's mind. She would never forget that moment. No matter what happened next, she would always remember the moment Emma fell for the possibility of something that should have been good with Regina. Because Regina couldn't guarantee Emma wouldn't regret it.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: TRIGGER WARNING for slight mentions of abuse. Hopefully I'm not moving this along too slow or too fast. Next chapter should be the conclusion. **

* * *

When Regina woke the next morning, there was a note with her name on it set on the floor just outside her chamber. She picked it up, unfolded it, and saw cute, bubbly-lettered cursive written on the parchment. It read:

_My Maybe Friend, _

_Our parents have arranged a week of activities for us to partake in and witness while we continue to get to know each other. I asked for them to give us today to be apart and take a moment to adjust to the current living situation, but they denied my request. _

_I know you wanted space and I will do what I can to give it to you, but know that we are expected to be joined at the hip for the next few days. Depending on when you see this, breakfast may be sooner than you would like and I will be there at the place setting right next to yours as it was for last night's supper. I hope that while our parents belligerently throw us at each other that you will understand I mean no harm and will apply no pressure for you to warm up to me just yet. _

_Truthfully, this note is a warning so you don't have to hear it for the first time at breakfast in front of everyone. I figured you at least deserved the time in your chamber before coming down to eat for you to process what is to happen. If there is anything else I might do to make you a little more comfortable with all of this, please don't hesitate to tell me. Although, I recommend you tell me in private. Another fight would not make our situation any better when dealing with our parents._

_Sincerely,_

_The Girl Who is on Your Side_

Regina contained her smile, but inwardly expressed it as she finished reading the letter. Emma was too kind. Regina replayed her last conversation with Emma, that flash of hope, and the smile she felt within herself vanished. The warmth was snuffed out like a cap to a burning candle and was replaced by the icy cold, black pit that surrounded her most days.

The handmaid from the previous night appeared in her peripheral vision and Regina snapped herself out of her troubling thoughts.

"A meal is being prepared for everyone. I have instructions to help you dress and escort you to the table."

Regina curtly nodded and permitted the woman into her chamber. She tucked the note under her bed while the maid went to the wardrobe to find a suitable outfit for her and once she was ready, she went along with the handmaid to the dining quarters.

Everyone else was already seated and Regina worried she'd gotten a late start. She'd exhausted herself the prior night because not only could she not sleep, but she couldn't stop the silent tears that streaked her face and created a crippling pain in her chest from holding back the sobs so she wasn't heard. If she showed any weakness, her mother would set her straight, but if she showed any weakness and caught the attention of the Whites then she risked receiving an unforgiving lashing. The whip was worse than the belt. It was finer and came down faster. It ripped open skin right away whereas the belt left bright red marks and stung, but didn't always break skin. She could handle the effects of the belt. She struggled with those of the whip and she loathed what a week with all the activities planned with Emma would be like if she was healing from the lashes all the while.

Regina's eyes quickly found Emma and the empty space beside her. She politely smiled at Snow and Charming before she walked around the table and took her seat.

"I hope your morning has been well," Charming said as Regina settled into her spot next to his daughter then gave a nod to the handmaid who curtsied in response then left the room.

"Yes, thank you," Regina replied. "I apologize for my delay. I took the time to get a little more familiar with my chamber before your lovely handmaid came to retrieve me."

"Worry not," Snow assured her. "Emma has informed us that this may be new to you and that you still need more time to adjust. We understand. We aren't heartless like our daughter seems to think."

Snow shot Emma a glare to which Emma responded with a cheeky smile.

"I never used the word heartless," the blonde argued.

Snow wryly smiled back.

"Nevertheless, we aren't going to push you into this," Snow added. "We expect you to make the most of your time here, but there is no rush for our daughter to wed. Ask us again in a year and that might be an entirely different story."

Snow warmly smiled at Regina and Charming mirrored it.

Regina nervously smiled back and looked to Emma. The blonde bumped shoulders with her and quietly said, "It's supposed to be a joke."

Regina's expression lightened, a slight weight lifted from her shoulder that Emma's family actually joked with each other. Regina joked with her father plenty of times, but her mother was always so serious and conniving and her mother circled around her like a vulture. It was hard to be so carefree like the Whites.

Cora chuckled along with everyone and briefly glanced at Regina, but kept most of her focus on the others.

"What is our first activity," Regina broke away from the thoughts of Cora and her plan that loomed in her head and threatened to ruin the morning before it had really even started.

"We hear you are an excellent rider," Charming answered. "We thought you might give Emma a few lessons and take a ride around the kingdom. Maybe enjoy some alone time at our family's Winter Palace?"

"Father," Emma warned.

Charming raised his hands in surrender and smiled at the blonde.

"But that is entirely up to you girls," he added.

"Thank you," Regina smiled at him and bowed her head.

"What is this bowing," Charming asked with a furrowed brow then widened his smile. "You don't need to bow your head to me if you still plan on marrying my daughter. Think of the Queen and me as your friends."

Regina breathed out a relieved little laugh.

"Yes, your Majesty."

"So long as you don't hurt her," Snow amended, "we can desist with such formalities between the three of us, including the use of our titles."

Regina nodded.

"That is very kind of you."

"We want you to feel comfortable here. It must not be easy to be away from home, and with your father's health in question I can only imagine how difficult this all must be for you," Charming sympathized. "Emma does have a point that this all might be a little rushed for you, and you are a nice, young girl, certainly someone Emma likes. We want the absolute best for her, and right now, that seems to be you. So we want this to work out and we are willing to do whatever it takes to ease you into all of this."

It sounded to Regina like Emma got all her charm from her father.

Regina smiled, though her cheeks hurt from the fakeness of the expression. She wanted to be genuine with Charming and Snow and of course Emma, but she never could with Cora around. She carried around a heavy burden and deceit as to their true intention for seeking Princess Emma's hand. Snow and Charming being polite and accommodating did nothing to make her feel better about any of it. It made her feel worse. They were nice people and nice people didn't deserve the evil Cora had planned for them. Regina didn't know anyone who did.

After a moment, breakfast was brought out and served. For a while, no one said anything more while they enjoyed their food, and it was good food. She figured the White family probably had one of the best chefs in all of the Enchanted Forest because they were one of the stronger bloodlines. They had significant power and wealth and Regina had been to one of her cousin's palaces when she was younger. They also had good food, but her cousin was the crown prince, heir to her father's family's throne. Her own father, Henry, was fifth in line to be King, the youngest of five brothers. She was heir to nothing as it stood so it made complete sense why her mother targeted the Whites. Also, she'd once heard her mother yell at her father about a woman named Eva and how that woman's daughter should suffer as her departed mother had.

Regina didn't understand it, but she did understand that her mother was vengeful and power hungry. It was how she had come to possess magic, after all. With her and her mother in place at the White's Summer Palace, she could then acquire status and a title through her daughter to add to the power she already had as a sorceress.

Near the end of the breakfast, Emma occasionally kept looking over at Regina and her plate. The blonde had finished most of a very sufficient serving and yet, it didn't stop her from reaching over and stealing a bite from Regina's plate.

"Emma," Regina exclaimed, and Emma laughed as she chewed.

Regina rolled her eyes, but the corners of her mouth started to quirk into a smile as she remembered their conversation from the first time they met.

As if Emma had read her mind, the blonde said, "I told you very early on that I eat a lot."

Regina looked at Emma and she felt her smile widen.

"It is entirely your fault and not mine that you left your food right there, in front of my face, like I wasn't going to try something like that," Emma added and then confidently stole another bite.

Regina sighed and finished the rest of her meal without another incident while her smile naturally faded with the lack of entertainment a few seconds later.

_What am I going to do with you_, she thought.

* * *

Regina burst with laughter. Emma had fallen off her horse for the third time and they hadn't even made it that far from the palace.

"My father said to give me lessons," Emma growled as she stood up and brushed off her riding clothes. "I don't hear you giving any."

"I'm sorry." She wasn't. "I just thought once you were on the horse you'd know how to stay on. We were barely at a trot."

"Easy for you to say. You can ride like a man," Emma teased.

Regina gasped, but quickly grinned as she clicked her tongue and walked her horse right into Emma's personal space. The princess had barely gotten her balance back on her own two feet and she'd cowered away from the horse she chose to ride even when he'd still been stuck in his stall.

Emma yelped and stumbled backward as she shooed Regina's horse away, his nostrils close enough to wet her cheek before she fell on her ass.

Regina laughed again and pulled on her horse's reins. Her horse backed away from Emma and Regina took in the picture of amusing victory her actions created.

"What was that about my riding," Regina rhetorically asked with a smirk.

A moment later, Regina extended her hand to Emma in an offer to help the girl up.

Emma looked from Regina's hand up to Regina's eyes. She hesitated, but took Regina's hand and started to pull herself up when all of a sudden—

Regina let out a surprised yell and tried to clench her thighs around her saddle, but Emma's sword fighting arm muscles came in handy and managed to yank Regina right off her horse. The brunette fell to her side and landed in a tangled heap on top of the blonde.

Emma laughed even as their bodies pressed flat against each other while Regina gasped at their position.

Regina's eyes were wide and though she'd been shocked to have fallen at all let alone fallen on top of the princess, the brunette had yet to move.

Emma's laughter subsided and in a moment, the air around them was silent except for their slightly heavy breathing and the shuffling clomps of the horses as they impatiently waited nearby. They locked eyes and Regina's mind almost blanked with the feel of Emma beneath her. It was an odd sensation, to be on top of another person and have control over when and how their situation ended. Aside from the rush of the freedom riding horses gave her, Regina had never felt any sense of control or power before. If she wanted to get technical though, the fate of Emma and her parents were in her hands. That was plenty of control, but it wasn't the kind she wanted or liked. On top of Emma? That was the control she preferred.

But she couldn't think about that. Her mother had a devastating mission for her to execute and Regina couldn't allow herself to feel anything for Emma. She had to truly be the blonde's friend and keep her distance.

_Protect her, remember_, Regina chided herself.

Regina scrambled off Emma and brushed her hands over her pants while she kept her eyes focused on her task. Once again, she avoided eye contact with Emma and it lasted for most of the day. Even as they stopped at the Winter Palace for a break before they doubled back to the Summer Palace, Regina said no more than a few words to Emma without any more than a glance or two thrown her way.

Emma tried to engage her in conversation while they snacked on the food they brought in a sack for a small lunch together, but Regina only responded with hums or head movements or sometimes just sighs and shrugs.

By the time they returned to the Summer Palace, Emma was deflated by the lack of communication, but she smiled at her parents and Cora went they entered. She allowed Regina to disappear to her chamber before supper and reported to their parents' that everything went well and that Regina wanted to rest before dinner.

"She taught me enough so that we could race," Emma told them. "She pushed that horse like she was conditioning it."

Snow and Charming laughed while Cora smiled and nodded.

* * *

Regina woke earlier the next morning, but sure enough there was still a note placed outside of her chamber when she went to see if the handmaid was nearby.

_My Maybe Friend,_

_I hope I didn't do anything to upset you yesterday. It was all in good fun, but if my actions have in any way hurt you or pushed you away from me, I apologize and promise to refrain from a repeat performance. _

_The good news is, our parents are pleased. I think the only thing we have to worry about is your feelings about all of this should you decide our friendship is enough for you. I know you said you wanted children and maybe because of how I pulled you off the horse it made you think of our wedding night it made you pull away. I asked you not to do that, remember? If you have a problem with something I say or do, I want to know so I can fix it. I thought we had a wonderful time yesterday…until you stopped talking to me. I agree that children may be something we need to discuss and how that will affect how our marriage will work, but I'm not unapproachable about the subject. If there is a solution we can come up with and settle on, I will do it. I don't want to lose you, Regina. I like you. I hope you like me too._

_Sincerely,_

_The Bane of Your Existence?_

Regina tried to see the note from a positive perspective. Emma had signed it "the bane of your existence" with a question mark. The blonde must have thought they moved further away from friendship the previous day. That was good. It was supposed to be good, anyway. If Emma thought they weren't making progress or that they were moving backward instead of forward, maybe Emma would call off the arrangement. Maybe if she did that, the White family would leave and Regina could deal with the consequences back home. It was better than the reverse.

However, Regina didn't actually think it was good. It was sweet and sad and Emma clearly still wanted to make their relationship, marriage or friendship or both, work. She still had hope and she wanted to talk about children. It was Regina's only real excuse she'd expressed as to why she wouldn't want to marry the girl, and Emma wanted to find a solution to the problem. It was unbelievable how amazing the blonde was, how much she cared about them when all she saw was Regina keeping her distance. It wasn't fair.

It wasn't fair, but it had to be done.

Regina picked out her outfit before the handmaid came to help—a simple dress that she didn't need much assistance with—and she made it to breakfast later than the Whites but earlier than her mother. The meal was enjoyed in silence, more so than the previous morning, and Regina would have been happy with that. Would have was the key phrase.

Emma kept a neutral expression most of the time and though Regina did nothing to lighten Emma's possibly horrible mood hidden beneath her mask, she waited for the blonde's smile even if it wasn't directed at her. The smile never came.

It was foolish to want such things when Regina was the one to push Emma away, especially due to the reason why Regina pushed her away. It was a damn good reason and she stuck by her decision, but she wasn't sure what was worse: Emma's sadness or a friendship cherished while it still could be. She started to lean toward sadness, but when she thought of the betrayal Emma could potentially feel once it was revealed why Regina was really there to marry her, she figured it was best not to toy with the darling blonde's emotions.

Emma would be miserable, but maybe it would give her and her parents a chance to live.

For a girl who didn't want Emma to have hope for their friendship, Regina certainly had an awful lot of hope herself, for Emma and her family's safety.

When breakfast was over and everyone left the table, Regina had the urge to follow Emma and get her alone so they could talk. Emma at least deserved a conversation. Unfortunately, Regina's urge didn't command her. Her mother commanded her, and Cora swooped in and stood directly in front of Regina before the brunette could wander off anywhere.

"From what I've heard of yesterday's affairs you seem to be on the right path," Cora said.

"Is that supposed to be a compliment or should I wait for your critique?"

"Don't sass me, Regina. You're finally doing something right. I don't want you to ruin how proud I am of you with your attitude."

Regina tried not to slouch. She wanted to be anywhere but there. She'd prefer to stand in front of Emma while the blonde lectured her on how to be a real friend and somehow punish her for her cold behavior. But she wasn't lucky enough to get what she wanted so there she stood and there she waited for Cora to come to some kind of conclusion.

"Keep this up and maybe tomorrow you can start to discuss a date for the ceremony," Cora continued. "We need to figure out a timeline for how the rest of this should play out and I'd like to have that sooner rather than later."

Regina didn't say a word. She didn't even nod her comprehension.

Cora narrowed her gaze with a flicker of anger in her dark brown eyes.

"You _will _do this, Regina. I can make your life hell."

_You already do_, Regina desperately wanted to say, but didn't.

"However," Cora darkly add, "I can always end your father's suffering if you wish to be difficult."

Regina's eyes almost undetectably widened, but Cora's eyes glimmered with sick pleasure at the change in expression. She had grown accustomed to Regina's faces and moods after years of her abuse because the woman loved to study Regina to ensure maximum pain and understanding was achieved. She effortlessly read her like a book.

"I thought that might convince you," Cora spoke again. "Play nice, dear."

With those final parting words, Cora left Regina to her day with Emma, which ended almost, but not quite, as poorly as the last one.

They sat in cushioned seats and watched as guards trained before they put on a show for the not-so-happy couple. They hadn't spoken since the day before, although Regina wondered if Emma's note counted as a conversation even if it had been one-sided. Either way, Emma was too quiet and Regina couldn't take it any longer so she tried to broach the elephant in the room.

"About yesterday," Regina slowly started. "You did nothing wrong."

Emma looked over at her and held her gaze for a moment, seemingly with no forthcoming verbal response. A few seconds later, however, Emma finally spoke.

"If I did nothing wrong then why did you avoid me?"

"I… It's complicated."

"I told you to talk to me."

"I know," Regina sighed.

"I still want to be friends."

"I want—"

"Children. I know, but you didn't even ask me if there was another way we could create a family. If that is the only thing that is holding you back then you don't seem to have much faith in us being able to figure all of this out. Together."

Regina pleadingly looked at Emma and it wasn't how she should have looked at her. She should've made Emma mad, should have denied Emma's hope that they could start a family together, and it would have been easier in that moment than any other so far. And yet, she pleadingly looked at Emma anyway.

"I'm sorry," Regina said, and that time she meant it.

Emma pursed her lips in a pseudo smile then returned her attention to the training that would later lead to a supposedly thrilling sword fight.

Regina stared at Emma a little longer before she turned back to the training as well and felt as though they'd at least made some kind of amends. She didn't know what that meant for the long run, but for now she relaxed with the idea that Emma might be slightly less hurt than she was after their fall.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Turns out this isn't the last chapter after all. I foresee one more after this. Hope you like it. Let me know what you think. Also, I took some Spanish translation suggestions from anotherOUATwriter and GardensoftheMoon. Hopefully it makes the story easier to enjoy.**

* * *

As the week went on, there were a few subtle changes between Emma and Regina. The next couple of days after they sat together in silence and watched the guards fight, they still hadn't really talked much and that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. But it wasn't something to get excited about either. Most of the time they had just smiled at each other if only to be polite or to keep their parents out of their problems.

Regina still received notes, though. It was odd and unexpected and while the length of them had increased slightly in comparison to the previous ones, they were a little desperate to establish a connection and Regina still inwardly smiled at the fact that Emma had bothered with more notes at all.

The contents of the notes for those two days weren't really anything to smile about because Regina could see Emma's hope dwindling in the words written on the page, but at least Emma had enough hope to keep writing.

The first note read:

_My Maybe Friend,_

_I accept your apology._

_The sword fighting was entertaining, wasn't it? I'm sure you don't particularly care because I know you love horses and I swear that is the only real activity you'll enjoy since you love it so dearly. I think our parents are only trying to show each of us what we do for fun and what we like so it will help us get to know each other._

_The thing is, Regina, I think I already know you. I only wish that you would at least not put so much distance between us while you think about where our friendship may end up._

_Sincerely,_

_Not Giving Up_

The second note came after a more peaceful outing. They had gone to the marketplace to fetch a few things and though they only asked if the other liked a trinket here or a fruit or vegetable there, not much else was shared. Still, they smiled at each other every so often and it thankfully wasn't just polite or out of duty to keep their parents happy and give themselves a chance to work through their issues rather than separate and have to move on to other suitors.

_My Maybe Friend,_

_It is an immensely good thing you favor strawberries just as I do. It seems, yet again, we have another thing in common. You see that with all we have common—and even all that we don't—is what would make us great friends, don't you? It could possibly even make us a great couple for the kingdom's sake. We could rule together. You would be the perfect spouse to have at my side. Everything between us would be equal and at the end of every day I will be able to shake my fears and concerns or rant about how awful the day was to my best friend. _

_But the choice is still yours and I know you will probably take years to come around to this idea given how impersonal our interactions are as of late. You seem terribly unconvinced how our friendship could be the best thing that happened to either of us so maybe these letters will help guide you to a decision._

_I'm ready to be your friend as long as we both shall live. Let me know when you are ready to do the same._

_Sincerely,_

_A Potential Confidant, if you so choose_

On their fifth day of activities, however, something interesting happened. Regina felt a spark. It wasn't one of hope, but of light and liking and a specific kind of fire Regina only remembered when she thought of the good times with Daniel. It happened during a walk through the safer parts of the forest that surrounded the outer most edges of the palace's boundaries. They walked just past the spot where Regina fell on top of Emma and while the memory popped into the front of Regina's mind, it wasn't the major reason why Regina felt anything let alone that spark.

"Do you want to talk," Regina asked as the silence between them stretched on like the road ahead.

"What is there to talk about?"

Regina took a moment to think. Though she wanted to start up a dialogue with Emma, she didn't know what to say. Emma usually started all their discussions, at least the ones that weren't brief and were easier to get through.

Emma bent down and picked up a rock. She threw it across the dirt path in front of them and kept her eyes forward while Regina failed to answer her question.

Regina frowned and thought about what it was Emma did that got her to relax and open up. Find common ground, smile a lot, just be Emma? The latter was impossible. No one could be Emma, even if parts of the princess were just learned behavior from watching and bonding with her father.

Since she couldn't be Emma, she decided to just think like Emma. What did Emma do? How did she make it work for her? Then she remembered the letters.

"The notes you leave me in the morning," Regina finally blurted out.

Emma looked at her and slowed her pace, which caused Regina to slow hers so they continued to walk together. Emma didn't say anything, didn't add to the conversation at all aside from giving the brunette her attention.

"I like them," Regina continued after a few seconds. "I hope that the subject matter of the latest ones doesn't mean our…difficult relationship has deterred or discouraged you in any way."

"Of course it has. You never once mentioned how you felt about the letters before and it isn't as though I have had much to share in those letters given that I can count on one hand how many words we've spoken to each other in the last two days."

"You're right. I haven't said anything before, but I'm saying something now. I appreciate them."

Emma stared at her for a moment then kicked another rock.

"Then I guess I should keep writing them," Emma said, and Regina tried to contain and down play the happiness that inspired her smile.

After a moment, as they continued on their walk, Regina slowly reached out and brushed the back of her hand against Emma's. The blonde practically jumped in response to the contact, but a second later she turned over her hand and took Regina's in hers.

Regina's smile brightened and Emma walked a little closer to her. Their shoulders touched and their upper arms grazed each other every other step. She didn't want to get close to Emma because it was just what her mother wanted, but Emma had been nothing but good to her since the first moment they met. She was scared to admit that even while she tried to keep her distance, she liked Emma. Arranged circumstances that brought them together aside, her developing feelings were unplanned, unexpected, and only unwanted because she didn't want to satisfy her mother's constant desire for more power.

They walked hand in hand back to the palace that day and not long before they emerged from within the tree line several yards from the palace walls, they laced their fingers together and Regina not-too-gently squeezed Emma's hand. Her eyes were intently focused on the palace in front of them and her breathing picked up pace, shallow and uncontrolled as she struggled to take a deep breath to calm herself.

Emma noticed and stopped them both from taking a single step further.

"Something is bothering you," Emma stated. "Do you not want to go back just yet?"

Her mother was inside and the woman was probably waiting for Regina to return and report good news about progress made with the princess. She didn't want to see her mother and she didn't want to give her any information about Emma. Eventually, they would both have to go inside, but it didn't have to be any time soon.

"No. Take me somewhere, anywhere, that isn't a palace or a place your parents know about. Take me somewhere where we don't have to think about our families or the arrangement. Let's just go."

"Okay," Emma nodded and tugged her along, back into the forest.

* * *

The sun was in its earliest stage of descent behind the horizon even as it remained brightly overhead. A striking burnt orange glow streamed down past branches and green leaves to illuminate the surrounding forest around a quaint cabin a generous and comfortable distance from the palace.

Regina was on her back in a patch of grass and finally she was able to take a much needed breath. She closed her eyes and relaxed under the warmth of the gradually fading sun. She heard the cabin door squeak open and then clamber shut. She clawed at the ground beneath her and her nails dug into the dirt just before Emma spoke up.

"I made us some lemonade from the lemons at the grove. It's only a short walk from here. If you don't want to stick around the place too long, maybe you'll want to come take a look at the garden?"

"Maybe," Regina answered and opened her eyes.

Emma sunk down onto her knees beside Regina and handed over a glass jar of lemonade to her.

Regina accepted it as she pushed herself into a sitting position. She took a small sip then rested the jar on her thigh as she held on to it to keep it upright.

"So, clearly something's bothering you," Emma said. "Will you talk to me about it?"

"I…I want t-to tell you, but I don't know what to say. If I say anything, I risk everything. If I say nothing, neither of us will be happy."

"Regina," Emma placed a hand on the brunette's forearm. "You're starting to worry me."

Regna closed her eyes and sighed. A moment later, she opened her eyes again and turned her head to look at Emma.

"I've been trying not to like you," Regina sadly and quietly confessed. "I even pretended to hate you when I first came back with my mother."

Emma laughed.

"Yeah, I noticed."

Regina flashed her a pained smile that she tried her hardest to not let it look pained at all. It was only partly successful.

"Just once I would like my life to actually be about me," Regina said.

Emma frowned and furrowed her brow.

"What do you mean?"

Regina hesitated then shook her head and flashed another smile. That time it was unconvincingly reassuring.

"Nothing," Regina replied and took another sip, a longer sip, of her lemonade.

Emma took a deep breath and let go of her questions along with her exhale. She repositioned herself on the grass then reached up and brushed Regina's hair back behind the other woman's ear.

Regina gasped, but she didn't flinch under her touch. Slowly, her eyes locked on Emma's again and they stared at each other for a moment with nothing but the sounds of nature to fill the silence between them.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore," Regina barely said above a whisper.

"Okay," Emma almost as quietly replied.

Regina set aside her drink and curled into Emma while the blonde then set aside her own drink. Regina wrapped her arms around Emma's waist and rested her head in the crook of Emma's neck, her cheek pressed to the blonde's collarbone.

"How long can we stay here," Regina asked.

Emma slowly wrapped an arm around Regina to reciprocate the embrace and looked up at the sky.

"Maybe another hour or two before we should head back. Any longer and they'll start to worry."

"Stay with me? Stay here? For as long as we can?"

"Of course," Emma said and started to run her fingers through Regina's hair.

After a minute, Regina started to shake in Emma's arms and when the blonde tried to ask Regina what was wrong, she heard the other woman sniffle. She hugged Regina tighter and ran a hand up and down her back.

"Is this…is this because your father is ill," Emma carefully asked.

Regina gripped her fists in Emma's clothes and tugged at them as she struggled to maintain a good grasp on the other princess.

"There's more, but…I do wish he was here. It might… He tried… He's on my side. He shouldn't be ill."

Emma said nothing more, just held Regina as she cried. When she cried herself to sleep, Emma let her rest and carefully laid her down in the grass. She stretched out beside her and watched Regina sleep for a while. As the orange glow turned into a disappearing red during sunset, she started to stroke Regina's hair. The brunette looked peaceful in slumber and even more so with the colors of sunset to bask her beautiful features.

Regina slowly opened her eyes after a minute and the first thing she saw was Emma's smile.

"Hello again, Sleepyhead," Emma said.

"I fell asleep?"

"Yes."

"For how long?"

"About an hour. It's almost time to go back to the palace."

"I don't want to go back."

"We have to go back. But…we can always come back here tomorrow. Or perhaps we'll visit your father. We'll tell everyone we're going to the Winter Palace and instead we'll see dear Henry."

Regina smiled.

"_Dear _Henry? Should I worry you have a crush on my father?"

"He is dashingly handsome," Emma joked with her.

Regina playfully shoved Emma's arm and they laughed in the grass together. When their laughter subsided, Regina lost that light in her, the twinkle in her eyes and the glow of her warm smile.

They helped each other up and they brushed themselves off. Emma then reached out and picked a few leaves out of the brunette's hair. Regina picked one out that was nestled deeply within Emma's own hair.

"Let's walk back," Emma said when they were both presentable. "Together."

Emma held out an open hand and waited. It only took a couple seconds before Regina accepted the contact and placed her hand in Emma's. For the second time that day, they walked back to the palace hand in hand.

* * *

The sixth day at the White's Summer Palace proved to be better than the fifth, although the previous day had thankfully ended on a high note. Regina and Emma had spent a semi-blissful day away from the palace and when they returned, Cora hadn't come to see her. It didn't matter in that moment to Regina why Cora had left her alone. She was just happy to not have the shadow of her manipulative mother shroud her in darkness.

The following morning, Regina was pleasantly surprised and had twice as much reason to smile when she opened her chamber door. On the other side of it stood Princess Emma. In her hand, the blonde held up a note in front of her chest and smiled at Regina when the brunette looked from her to the note and back.

"I thought I would deliver it in person today. Read it and get ready as soon as you can. Then come find me."

"Find you? Why?"

"The note will explain. See you soon," Emma said before she scampered off.

Regina shook her head with a silent laugh then retreated into her chamber to read the note.

_My Maybe Friend, _

_Good morning! I say we skip breakfast today, forget about whatever our parents have planned for us, and do what we talked about yesterday. We can either start at the cabin or check in on your father and recuperate at the cabin after. Of course we also don't have to do either. What happens today is entirely up to you._

_Meet me in front of the palace. Your knight and her noble steed await. Neither of us are wearing armor, in case you were wondering._

_Sincerely,_

_Here for You_

Regina rushed to get dressed in the most riding worthy outfit in the wardrobe before she fled the palace undetected and met Emma, on the horse as the letter explained, out front. Regina hadn't even fixed up her hair before she left her chamber, but Emma only beamed at her when they locked eyes.

"This will not end well if you are the one steering the horse," Regina teased, though there was a hint of truth in her statement.

"Which is why you're here. Hop on and help me," Emma said as she continued to smile.

Regina smiled and rolled her eyes as she stepped up to the horse.

"Scoot back, Princess," Regina instructed.

"Bossy, bossy," Emma teased and pushed back to sit on the back half of the saddle.

Regina stroked the horse's mane and neck then carefully swung her leg over the saddle. She realized just as she stared to lower herself onto the saddle that she was in the position to give Emma a good view of one of her physical assets. She blushed at the thought, but Emma did and said nothing about it so there wasn't too much to fuel her embarrassment, only what she thought Emma might think or see as she sat down.

As soon as Regina was comfortable in the saddle, she felt Emma's arms wrap around her and then she became an entirely different kind of comfortable. That worried her on so many levels, for a few various reasons. She took a deep breath to calm herself then took full control of the reins and fled to the palace with Emma right behind her.

The wind whipped past them and Regina felt a fresh burst of life surge into her and explode in vibrant colors all around them. She was sure Emma didn't see it, see the colors or feel all the exhilarating emotions they caused, but that was a good thing. It was one of Regina's secrets, and maybe the most important one. If Emma couldn't see what Regina felt then she still had a chance to break away from all of it, still had a chance to protect Emma and her family.

The colors were bold brush strokes that blurred and streaked across the lines of trees as Regina rushed to her palace, to her father. All the colors, all the bursts of life she had in her when she set off on this journey with Emma, appeared before her and carried on in the space she left behind.

It took a little less than an hour for them arrive at Regina's palace. It was a palace of many horrors, but her father was inside and he wasn't well. She had to know that for all his physical ailment that he was still alive and at least still mentally well. She needed to check in with him. The last time she'd seen him, Cora had whisked her off after she'd finished her abuse and left Henry to take care of himself and all the pain she'd inflicted. It was what Cora did, leave a trail of destruction and walk away.

"Regina?"

The brunette gasped back into reality when she heard Emma's voice and a second later, Emma ran a hand up one of her sides while the other remained near her hip.

"Are you okay," Emma asked.

Regina nodded and gulped before she blew out a sharp exhale and smiled over her shoulder at Emma.

"Yes. Yes, I'm okay. Ready to go in?"

"Only if you are," Emma smiled back and rested her chin on Regina's shoulder.

Emma still had her hands on Regina and Regina didn't mind. She actually liked it and needed it. It gave her a sense of strength. She felt support, felt like she wasn't alone anymore. She wanted to hide her family secrets from everyone, Emma included, but she really didn't want to handle this on her own anymore. The least that Regna could rely on Emma for was to walk into the palace with her, see her father with Emma in whatever condition he was in, and get through it. Together. Emma didn't need to know why her father was hurt the way he was, she just need to be there.

"I am," Regina told her. "I'm ready."

"Do you want me to wait here or…somewhere inside?"

"No," Regina quickly replied. "Come with me."

"Any time," Emma said and let go of Regina before she dismounted and held out a hand to Regina.

"Such chivalry," Regina teasingly drawled and took Emma's hand.

Emma helped Regina down, not that she needed the help, and they tied the horse up before they walked side by side into the quiet palace. It was eerily vacant inside and trepidation immediately set in for Regina.

"Daddy? Daddy!"

Regina hurried toward the stairs and Emma followed close behind. They almost took two stairs at a time as they made haste to the second floor and it successfully cut their time in half. In the blink of an eye, they went from the front door to right in front of Henry's room.

Regina closed her eyes and hoped he wasn't worse than expected, or possibly dead. After the small moment to herself, Regina opened her eyes and took a step forward. She reached out and slowly opened the door with a slightly shaky hand.

Emma placed a hand on Regina's lower back and gently coaxed her into entering the chamber. What they both saw when the door was fully open came as no real surprise. From what they both had imagined, it was the best case scenario.

"Daddy," Regina breathed out with relief and ran to her father's bedside with a smile and brown eyes filled with tears.

"Oh," Henry happily croaked out. "Oh, Regina. My beautiful, darling girl. What are you doing back here?"

"Daddy, you're okay," Regina cupped the side of his and a tear escaped her as she leaned over him.

Henry lay completely still, stiff as a board, on his back in bed. He looked a little pale and his eyes were tired and red. He looked a little thinner than before upon further inspection as well.

"Daddy, have you eaten much recently?"

"No, no. I couldn't. Not until I knew you were alright."

"That won't do," Regina argued and shook her head. "I'm fine. _You're _not. You need to eat."

Regina started to fuss over him and he protested until a blonde fidgeted in the doorway and caught his attention.

"We have company," he stated and Regina looked up and took notice of Emma who looked nervous with her wide eyes and awkward body language.

"Emma, it's alright. You can come in. He won't bite," Regina assured her.

Emma flashed a quick smile.

"Hello, Sir," she politely greeted.

Henry chuckled through a cough brought on by the laughter.

"Um, okay…Henry," Emma replied.

Both Regina and Henry heard how uncomfortable Emma felt to use his first name and they laughed together about it.

"You know, if he needs food, why don't I go to the kitchen and get something? You two should talk. It's been almost a week and you've been apart while he's been ill. Take some time."

"Oh, dear, you don't have to do that," Henry said.

"No one else seems to be around to make you something and we came here for you so I'd be happy to help and even cater to you since it appears you may need it."

Emma smiled from Henry to Regina and excused herself from the chamber.

When Regina and Henry were alone, Regina crawled onto the bed and laid beside him. She picked at the flaps near the collar of his sleep shirt and rested her head on his shoulder.

Henry waited a moment before he started to talk to her and the first word he chose to start the conversation was in Spanish.

"Dime, Regina. Tell me. What's been happening since you left," he slowly asked between raspy and partially wheezed breaths.

"Mucho." Regina frowned. "Mother is…"

Regina didn't finish her sentence, but she didn't have to. They both knew how Cora was.

"What about Emma? How are things with you and her?"

"Mother wants—"

"Querida, I know what your mother wants. What do you want? Tell me what is _happening_, not what we both know your mother thinks _should _be happening."

Regna took a deep breath.

"She's kind and sweet. And she leaves me notes every morning. She's been nothing but respectful and considerate."

"She's also making tu padre a good meal while he's unwell. Ya la adoro."

"Y qué hay de mí," Regina asked with a bright smile and a hint of laughter in her voice. "¿Todavía me adoras o ahora es ella tu favorita?"

Henry chuckled.

"What about you, linda," he repeated her question. "You know I adore you. Yo siempre te adoraré. I will always adore you. As for mí favorito? Eh, I could be persuaded."

"Daddy," Regina playfully admonished.

Henry laughed a little more and a little louder. When it subsided, silence filled the room for a moment.

"I'm afraid," Regina quietly admitted.

"Of what?"

"Many things. It's this plan of hers. I don't want to hurt anyone."

"I know you don't."

"The longer I'm there and the more time I spend with Emma… It's hard to be distant. She's been a good friend and she gives me those notes and I don't know what to do."

"What do you mean?"

"Part of me wonders if I should tell Emma and warn them, but another part of me wonders if that would only make things worse. So I pretended not to like her and I pushed her away and I have never felt lonelier for it. You know that she's the one who suggested coming here?"

"Really?"

"We skipped breakfast to avoid Mother and her parents and we came straight here."

"That was very nice of her."

Regina looked up and saw a curious kind of emotion in her father's eyes. He looked and sounded as though he knew more than he let on and understood exactly how she might have felt even if she hadn't yet expressed as much.

"What is it, Daddy? What are you thinking?"

"Well, you like her."

"She's a friend. Of course I like her."

"It's more than that."

"It can't. It can't be more than that."

"Why not?"

"If it's more than that then Mother gets what she wants."

"Oh, Regina, your Mother only gets what she wants if you go through with her plan. Liking Emma wasn't a part of that, remember? She doesn't care about what you feel or for whom, as long as it doesn't interfere with what she wants."

"But it does. Liking Emma means I only want to protect her more."

"Don't think about your mother. Don't let her factor into how _you _feel. If you like Emma and you want to protect her, you do just that. She's a good one, Regina. Don't let her go."

"Daddy, I don't…I know what to do. I don't want my feelings to be the reason something tragic happens to their family even if I try to stop things."

"I'm telling you, sweetheart, none of that matters because what you feel for her will never be the reason why anything might go wrong."

"But Daniel—"

"That wasn't your fault. It was your mother. It is _always _your mother. It's never you. …Now the only question is, how much do you like Emma?"

Regina took a deep breath and gripped the flaps of her father's shirt in her fist then released it and smoothed out the wrinkles she'd created.

"I think…I think I…" Regina sniffled as new tears threatened to stream down her face. "Creo que me estoy enamorando."

"En Ingles, por favor," Henry gently urged her. "So it's not just a secret between you and me like speaking Spanish is our secret. Put it out in the universe."

Regina lifted her head from his shoulder and looked straight into his eyes as she blinked out a tear and did as he suggested.

"I think I could be falling in love with her."

Henry smiled and wiped away one of her tears.

"Deje crecer su amor. Let your love grow, mija."

Regina let out a sob and her lips curled into a not-quite smile as she nodded before she buried her face in his neck and her body jerked with more sobs as she continued to cry. It was a relief to have her father's advice, but the road ahead wasn't easy and it was strange for her to have fallen even the slightest bit for another princess. When she'd been younger, she'd always said she would find her prince and marry him before she rode off into the sunset on Rocinante. She'd said it to her father after he'd told her such fantasy endings in his bedtime stories to her. Once she met Daniel, she'd confided in her father once again and said it was fate.

But before they'd gone to the palace to visit Henry, when Regina saw Emma on the horse, it seemed she realized fate liked to toy with her mind and heart. Fate was a bitch with one twisted sense of humor. Because Emma didn't ride horses, didn't know how and was scared to death of the large animals, but there she'd been outside of her family's palace on a horse and waiting to ride off with Regina.

Her father was on her side. He'd finally stood up to Cora for Regina's sake. Everything he said to her about exploring her feelings for Emma was all for her benefit. He was right. She needed to stop thinking about Cora and just live her life and let her feelings transform into whatever her future held for her because of them.

"I'm not interrupting, am I," Emma's voice startled Regina and she instantly brought her face out of her father's neck to look at the blonde.

She quickly swiped at her eyes and tried to get rid of her tears and the evidence they left behind on her blotchy face, but it was no use. She was a wreck and she looked it.

"No. Sorry. It's a little emotional to be back here," Regina said, and it wasn't technically a lie.

Regina and Henry looked from Emma down to the silver platter she held. There was an abundance of food.

"Is all of that for me," Henry asked.

"Oh no," Emma shook her head and smiled as she started to walk into the room. "I didn't know what you'd like, but whatever you don't eat Regina and I will. We missed breakfast."

"Oh yes," Henry smiled at Emma. "I remember now. You did it to get here sooner rather than later. She told me."

Emma's smile spread and her cheeks started to turn pink.

"For a friend you seem to be taking special care of my daughter," Henry noted.

Emma's cheeks went from pink to red in almost a split second.

"Daddy," Regina scolded. "Leave her be."

Henry laughed and ran a hand through the ends of Regina's hair then rubbed Emma's arm.

"Deje crecer su amor," he repeated, and Regina's jaw dropped.

"What does that mean," Emma innocently asked.

"Nothing," Regina quickly answered for her father.

Emma furrowed her brow.

"Well, obviously it means _something_," Regina corrected, "but it's not important."

"If you say so," Emma let it slide. "Now who's going to eat this with me so I don't feel rude for shoving half of this platter into my mouth?"

Henry smiled and after a moment Regina relaxed and chuckled. The three of them started to pick at the food on the platter and Emma settled onto the bed with the other two. Henry lay between the two girls and occasionally they helped him eat if he needed the assistance, which was rare but he was laying down and some of the food he wanted was a little far from his reach considering the shape he was in. Neither princess seemed to mind the extra work for Henry's benefit, however.

Every other minute or so Regina would look at Emma and watch the blonde help her father. It made Regina reconsider a lot of things about Emma, how helpful and respectful the princess actually was. Though Regina hadn't had much experience with suitors or friends, and even fewer experience with them getting close to her family, she recognized just how special Emma was for taking the time to do more than just be there for her, but also be there for her father.

It amazed and surprised Regina, even if she already knew Emma was a daddy's girl like her, and Regina knew that if she could somehow find a way out of Cora's true arrangement and deadly plan for the White family, she would want to do as her father suggested. She would want to be the kind of friend Emma had already been and continued to be. She wanted to remove the barrier she'd put around her heart and let Emma in. She still wanted to protect Emma and her family, but she also wanted to let herself feel what she felt for Emma without the fear of Cora and all the potentially horrific outcomes that awaited them all. It was time to finally make her life about herself and not her mother's plans or power plays. It was time to be happy.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Here it is. The end. It turned out a lot longer than I originally thought it would be so I kind of split chapters 3 and 4 at a weird point in time. Hopefully it still reads okay. Trigger warning: some abuse near the end of the chapter.**

* * *

While Emma, Regina, and Henry ate, the three of them managed to indulge in a little conversation. It was impressive just how friendly Henry and Emma were considering that day was the first time they'd ever said more than hellos and goodbyes to each other.

"So, Emma. What do you like to do," Henry asked as they neared the end of their meal.

"Sword fighting," she easily replied.

Henry's eyebrows shot toward his receding hairline.

"Oh? You mean like knights and guards?"

"Yes," Emma chuckled.

"She spars with them sometimes, actually," Regina interjected.

"Isn't that something," Henry rhetorically asked. "Do you ever win?"

"Plenty of times," Emma boasted with a broad smile.

Henry laughed and said, "Good for you! I bet that means you're more than capable of defending yourself."

"Definitely," Emma answered.

"Good, good," Henry nodded. "I'm sure you know my daughter loves horses."

"Loves them very much," Emma confirmed. "She's an amazing rider."

"Oh, the best," Henry gladly agreed. "But I do remember when she first started to learn. It wasn't easy for her. Sure, most of it came naturally once she was _on_ the horse, but it took her a long time to get on and stay on."

Emma laughed and asked, "Really?"

"Daddy," Regina warningly said as she looked between Emma and her father, her eyes almost comically wide as she tried to change the topic of conversation.

"You should have seen her. She wasn't afraid of the horses and the horses took to her in a hurry, but she would get her legs over the saddle and then the horse would move because she accidentally moved the reins to help herself the rest of the way onto the horse. She would slip, but I was always there to catch her."

Emma laughed again.

"Aw. That's so sweet."

Regina glared at her father for sharing that piece of information with the girl she liked. It was embarrassing and she wanted Emma to think she'd always been good at the one thing Regina absolutely loved to do.

"Well, my first few weeks with a sword weren't the greatest," Emma truthfully confessed.

Before Emma said anything else about the experience, Regina already felt grateful that Emma's first instinct was to even the playing field of embarrassing story time. It was as sweet a gesture as any of the previous ones Emma had made throughout the last week and Regina felt herself fall a little more for the blonde because of it.

"I dropped the sword more times than my father could count and that was before I even gave it a full swing. There was also a time when I nearly took out my father's eye. I accidentally swung the way he instructed and I flicked my wrist a little too suddenly while he was standing too close and I sliced open his cheek. He moved out of the way in just enough time before I could do any more damage. That was when he gave me the wooden practice sword our family friend Geppetto made for me when I was younger and wanted to play-swordfight with my father."

"How old were you," Henry asked.

"When I went back to the wooden sword? Fifteen. I'd been practicing with a real sword for almost a year. I used the practice sword from the age of thirteen until I showed enough skill to handle a real sword. But he kept changing the swords he gave me. Some were heavier than others due to the design for a man who weighed more than me. He wanted me to learn how to handle the different weights and lengths."

"Any good knight or guard would be well versed in all types," Henry nodded.

"Yes, that's exactly what my father explained to me when I asked why he kept changing them. Clearly I wasn't ready for the change he made that day."

"Clearly," Henry agreed with a little laugh. "When I get better, I want you to show me what you know. I wouldn't mind a wonderful opponent."

"Daddy, you don't even know how to carry a sword."

"You didn't let me finish," Henry started to say. "I wouldn't mind a wonderful opponent and instructor. And instructor, mija."

Emma laughed and Regina rolled her eyes with a smile. All three of them knew he had finished his sentence the first time. He'd never meant to add the word instructor, but he wanted to give himself a little more dignity than that of an old man who lay beaten down and otherwise ill saying he wanted to spar with a girl who'd been training with several swords for the last four years.

Once they finished all but a few scraps of the food Emma brought them, Regina offered to clear it.

"I'll just take this downstairs," Regina said. "I'll leave it in the kitchen and someone can come by and take care of it later."

Henry nodded and Emma smiled as she watched Regina take the platter with her on her way to the door.

Emma and Henry were alone within a few seconds and Emma shifted in place on the bed and flashed him a nervous smile, not sure of what to do with herself or what to say to him when Regina wasn't there to act as a buffer. Thankfully, Henry stepped up and for once Emma didn't have to be the one to start a conversation with a Mills.

"You have been so very good to her," Henry said. "And she looks happier with you than she's looked in years aside from when she gets up on a horse."

"Oh, well," Emma nervously blushed and smiled before she ducked her head a bit. "I'm sure that doesn't have much, if anything, to do with me."

"But it does. It has everything to do with you, querida."

"What does that word mean?"

Henry chuckled.

"Would you like to learn a little Spanish?"

Emma nodded.

"Querida means 'darling' or 'dear'. Is there a specific word you want to learn how to say in Spanish?"

Emma's mouth opened and closed a few times as she tried to think of something. Then she thought about how she'd signed her most recent note to Regina and figured out what she might want or need to say later in Spanish to Regina.

"I'll always be here for you," Emma said.

Henry knowingly smiled up at her.

"Siempre estaré aquí para ti," Henry gave her the translation.

Emma frowned and furrowed her brow. Henry's smile widened.

"One word at a time then," he suggested. "Repeat after me. Siempre."

"Siempre," Emma started to repeat.

"Estaré."

"Estaré."

"Aquí."

"Aquí."

"Para. Ti."

"Para ti."

"Good," Henry praised. "Rolling your 'R''s needs a little work, but that was good. Regina's first language was English upon her mother's insistence so when I first taught her it took some time as well."

Emma smiled.

"Do you think you can say it altogether now," Henry asked.

"I can try."

Henry gave an encouraging nod and Emma took a deep breath before she made an effort to say it on her own.

"Siempre… estaré aquí…para ti," Emma slowly managed to say with a better roll on the "r" than her first try.

"Very good. Muy buena," Henry complimented.

"Muy Buena? That's 'very good' in Spanish."

"Mhmm," Henry nodded.

Emma breathed out a small and quick sigh of relief as her smile stretched a little further across her face.

Henry carefully and very slowly started to sit up. When Emma saw his struggle, she did what she could to help and pulled up his pillow and fluffed it while he lifted himself into a sitting position. He then eased himself back against the pillow with a long groan and sigh.

"Are you okay," Emma asked as he settled back against the pillow.

"Yes," he smiled at her to ease any tension she felt for him. "I'm fine. For now, at least. Listen, no matter what happens, from today forward, I need you to make me a promise."

"A promise? Why would I need to make you a promise?"

"Escúchame," Henry said then sighed as he realized she wouldn't understand that. "Listen to me, it doesn't matter why I'm asking you to do this. Just make me a promise, okay?"

Emma took a deep breath as she nodded her consent to do as asked. "Okay."

"I trust that you'll always be there for Regina, which is why I'm trusting you with her life and her heart."

Emma shook her head, confused, and opened her mouth as if to say something, but Henry continued to talk.

"No matter what happens, Emma, promise me that you will take care of my daughter."

"I…"

"Things might get a little complicated in the coming days and it might seem like you shouldn't look after her, but Regina's going to need someone like you. She's always needed someone like you. You wanted to know how to say you'll always be in there in Spanish and I can only assume that it will one day be for Regina's benefit. So I'm giving you the opportunity to do that and telling you, warning you, that there will most likely be times when it's not so easy to want to stand by her or our family."

"Why?"

"It will be clear soon enough, I'm sure, but you cannot let it keep you from helping her. It cannot keep you from taking care of her. She's a strong young lady, but sometimes she cannot do things on her own. It will hurt her too much to feel, or to be, so alone. I have a feeling the only reason she's here now is because you agreed to come with her."

"There's a lot you aren't telling me," Emma stated.

"Yes, but _I _can promise _you _that when you figure it out, it may be tough to move past. But know that Regina cares for you and doesn't want any trouble."

Emma furrowed her brow.

"And don't stand by her just because I'm telling to do it. Do it because you know you want to stand by her regardless of what happens."

Emma stared at him for a moment as silence filled the room. After a few seconds passed, she nodded and agreed.

"I promise to take care of her, to stand by her no matter what, and to do as I say I will and always be there for her."

Henry smiled again and the action was warm and infectious. Emma almost smiled back, but she was a little too concerned to smile in that moment.

"I know it seemed forced," Henry started to speak again, "but I also know you might not care how it is you two met and had the opportunity to spend time together. I give you my blessing. If you choose to go through with all of this, the wedding, a relationship that extends beyond only friendship with my daughter, I know you will do right by her."

Emma's cheeks turned pink for the second time that day.

"Thank you," she said.

"I hope you two weren't talking about me," Regina said a second later as she rejoined them in Henry's room.

Henry chuckled and Emma looked over her shoulder and smiled at Regina.

"Only good things," Emma teased, though it was in fact the truth.

"Remind me to never leave you two alone ever again," Regina replied and sat back down on the bed, next to Emma that time since it was closer to the door and her father had seemed to move himself further over toward the other edge of the bed.

There was nowhere else on the bed for Regina to sit and she easily accepted that as she made herself comfortable beside Emma. She sat close enough to the blonde for their arms to brush any time they moved.

"You are two beautiful young ladies," Henry told them.

"Thank you, Daddy."

"Yes. Thank you, Henry."

"It looks like an equally beautiful day outside, too," Henry said as he looked at his only partially drawn curtains and saw the sun peek through the window. "You should enjoy it while it lasts. Go somewhere nice and enjoy nature. Don't stay cooped up with me in this stuffy palace."

Regina adamantly shook her head.

"I'm not leaving you. Not until we absolutely have to go back to Emma's palace."

Henry looked from Regina to Emma. With his eyes, he silently asked for Emma's help on the matter and even though the time spent that day together was only their second time meeting, Emma understood.

"We can stay here," Emma said to Regina, "but maybe we should let your father rest. We can either find another room or we can walk the grounds. Maybe stay somewhere outside but very close by? We'll come back and check on him in a little while."

Regina looked between her father and Emma. She narrowed her eyes with suspicion.

"Yes, I've officially decided. I'm never leaving the two of you alone again."

Emma smiled and removed herself from the bed. She held out a hand for the other princess and Regina took it after a few seconds. She pulled Regina off the bed and onto her feet and they said their goodbyes for the time being.

"We'll see you soon," Emma said to Henry.

"Very soon. Blink and we'll be back," Regina added.

Henry laughed.

"Go enjoy this beautiful day," Henry replied. "Don't worry about me. I'll be here, _right _here, when you get back. I'll be fine."

With a reassuring smile from him, Regina allowed Emma to usher her out of the room and the two of them left Henry to his bed, his thoughts, and his rest, because Henry did look like it wouldn't hurt him to get a little sleep.

"While we're here," Emma started to say. "Why don't you show me your room?"

"That seems incredibly forward," Regina quickly said with a slightly offended tone.

"I meant nothing by it, at least not in that way. I want to see your room because I want to see where you grew up."

"Oh," Regina said, surprised to hear that. "Well, I suppose I could show you."

Regina took the lead and Emma followed her down the hall until they stopped in front of a closed door. It looked the same as her father's bedchamber door, but that was expected. But that also made Emma wonder what she would find when they opened the door. Would she see a lot of color or pictures or figurines of horses? Or would she see something bland and undecorated just as her father's chamber appeared.

Then, Regina pushed opened the door and Emma's eyes widened at what she saw. The room wasn't empty or painted in uninteresting colors, but it wasn't terribly bright and warm either, only simple in its lack of boldness. She had a four-poster canopy bed with white, slightly transparent curtains draped over and pinned up on every side of the bed. The walls were an off-white color with lavender accents and it made the room feel soft like a cream or fluffy like a well whipped dessert.

"Wow," Emma breathed out as she took it all in.

"Is that a good wow?"

"Yes," Emma smiled and looked around for another moment before she looked at Regina again. "This room is… It's you."

"I should hope so. I would hate to have grown up in a room that felt utterly foreign."

Emma smiled and walked over to the bed. She ran her fingers over the canopy portion of the bed and after a minute she sat down on the edge of the bed on one side beneath the dip of the curtain she'd previously touched.

Regina slowly crossed the room and sat on the edge of the foot of her bed. Her shoulders were hunched forward, she kept her back to Emma, and she frowned as she stared down at the floor.

"Hey," Emma called over to her. "He's going to be fine, Regina. He's tough, like you."

Regina humorlessly laughed and shook her head.

"He's fine _today_. I don't know how long I can keep this up. With my mother and…everything, I can't protect myself and him at the cost of someo—something else."

"Whatever's going on, I'm sure everything will work out."

Emma scooted closer to the foot of the bed and reached out. She put a hand on Regina's shoulder and Regina closed her eyes and sighed as soon as the contact was made.

"You can't know that," Regina argued.

"But I know you and you can get through plenty, so you'll get through this."

"You don't even know what I'm going through. You don't know how any of this will turn out."

"Maybe not, but it should count that I'm confident in you."

"It would count more if you knew more about me and my past and what's actually happening."

"Well, I would know all of that if you would actually talk to me. I keep telling you not to shut me out and that's all you do."

"It's complicated, Emma."

The blonde pushed herself further onto the bed and crawled closer to Regina before she rested both hands on either of the brunette's shoulders from her new position behind the other princess.

"I don't want to further complicate things," Regina tried to reason with her.

Emma sighed.

"Okay, so don't. Don't complicate things and don't tell me everything you're holding back, but will you let me be here in whatever way you need me?"

"I thought I already was," Regina quietly said as she slowly turned her head and looked at Emma from over her shoulder.

For a moment, neither had anything more to say and they just remained completely still on the bed with their gazes locked and penetrating. There was an intensity to the moment and both of them could tell the other one felt it just as they did. It seemed almost unexpected and out of nowhere, but Regina needed a friend and Emma was there to be needed.

"What do you need," Emma asked.

"You. I just need you," Regina confessed and slid back on the bed, which forced Emma to let go of her shoulders.

Emma moved with her until the two of them were at the head of the bed. Once they were near the pillows, Emma laid back while Regina settled against Emma. The blonde wrapped an arm around Regina in a sort of half-hug embrace and rested her chin against the brunette's for a moment.

"Would you…" Regina nervously started to ask after a moment and lifted her head to look at Emma as she spoke. "Would you stay in here with me? I don't feel like leaving the palace and I want to check on my father, but he won't want to see me so soon. I need him to think I'm actually outside like he wants."

"Yes, of course," Emma easily said with an expression that said, _Why do you think you still need to ask?_

Regina rolled off of Emma and fell aside, onto her back with her head on a pillow.

Emma rolled over and faced Regina on her side. She draped an arm over Regina's waist like it was the most natural thing in the world then rethought her actions.

"Is this okay," she asked Regina with eyes wide out of concern that she had overstepped.

"Yes," Regina assured her and placed a hand on Emma's forearm. She smiled at the blonde then turned her head again to look back up at the ceiling.

After several moments of silence, Regina absentmindedly started to stroke her fingers up and down Emma's arm. Emma's eyes fluttered closed and she wiggled against Regina's side until she was more comfortably draped half on top of the brunette. Regina chuckled to herself and took comfort in Emma's presence and the press of her body against her while they just lay there and rested.

Thoughts of Cora and the fact that she couldn't avoid her mother any longer ruptured the peace of the moment she shared with Emma. The seventh day would mark a full week's time of a trial run for the marriage and it would mark the day that Cora started to breathe down her neck about results. It was not a day she looked forward to, but that day wasn't today. It came with the rising sun the next morning, but Regina had all of this time with Emma and with her father and she was going to enjoy everything she could about it before anything like Cora and her plan could taint the simplicity and the warmth of the day and her true chance at happiness.

Regina lazily began to draw patterns on Emma's arm and when she looked to her right to check on the blonde, she thought Emma might have fallen asleep. A second later, however, when her fingers had unwittingly stopped all movement, green eyes popped open and instantly met her gaze. Regina resumed sliding her fingers up and down Emma's arm with a feather-light touch and soon Emma closed her eyes again. For some reason that made Regina smile.

* * *

Emma and Regina left Henry as physically ill as he had been when they first arrived, but he was in better spirits after he'd seen his daughter. It was sad to leave, but they'd spent long enough away from the Summer Palace and needed to return. When they arrived there, it was as unpleasant as Regina assumed it would be.

Emma's parents weren't thrilled about them running off the way they had, but Cora seemed wickedly pleased. The blonde argued with her parents for several minutes while Cora dragged Regina off to discuss all too familiar matters. Apparently Cora breathing down her neck came before the next rising sun. Regina frowned and looked back at Emma with wide, slightly frightened eyes while Cora pulled her toward the stairs. Emma met her gaze and looked concerned. It was the last Regina saw of her before Cora monopolized her time with talk of marriage, death, and a fatal timeline.

"I suppose sneaking off is _one _way to go about the plan. You seem to have an affinity for secret rendezvouses. Tell me, dear, are you truly a whore as I suspect?"

"We didn't do anything," Regina insisted. "We only talked."

Cora cackled.

"Oh, I very much doubt that's all you did. You really are your mother's daughter, doing what needs to be done to get what you want."

"This isn't what I want," Regina argued. "You want this. You want me to get close to this family, to Emma, for _you. _Not for me. Not for happiness, but as an effort to gain better station and more power."

"Don't be foolish," Cora practically growled. "This is _all _for you. Without power or proper station you will get nowhere in this life. They will treat you like you are _nothing_, but you're not nothing. Are you? You have to fight to get where you belong and you have to be ruthless to get what you deserve."

Regina shook her head, her expression shocked and full of disbelief.

"How can you think that way," Regina asked.

"It's the truth, Regina. The sooner you realize that, the better off you'll be."

"No, I won't, because it's not the truth. Yes, you have to fight, but you have to fight for your happiness and the love—"

"Love?" Cora scoffed. "Oh, dear girl, tell me you haven't fallen for the princess."

Regina remained silent.

"No," Cora shook her head with a mirthless smile. "You are indeed foolish. Love is weakness, Regina."

"If it's weakness, how is it I only feel strength whenever I allow myself to love?"

Cora scowled. With a flick of her wrist, she sent Regina flying across the room and into one of the walls.

Regina slammed against it hard with a thud and a yelp.

"One day you'll understand," Cora said with wild eyes and gritted teeth. "And as soon as you kill Emma the way you refused to let me take care of that stable boy, you will then know true and necessary sacrifice."

Regina steeled herself and took on a tough, defiant appearance both in her eyes and her body language.

"What would _you _know about sacrifice? All you've ever done is _take _what you want and step over people and hurt _everyone _around you."

Cora swooped in and slapped Regina hard across her cheek.

Regina squeaked in surprise on contact and accidentally bit her bottom lip hard enough to draw blood when her neck was forced from one direction to the other.

"Do not speak of things you don't understand," Cora lectured.

Regina's breath quickened and she wondered if the wall and the slap were only the start of her punishment that day. She'd only recently healed from her last run in with Cora and hated the thought of dealing with new wounds while they took just as long or longer to heal as the last ones.

After a moment, Cora took a step back. Her eyes were still hard with anger, but she made no move to further Regina's punishment so the brunette thought it might be the end of her pain for the day.

"There is no way out of this, Regina. You will do as you're told. I don't need a timeline to end one of their lives so if you're not careful, your darling princess will lose either her mother or father before the big day. It's up to you how soon she loses one of them."

Regina's jaw dropped and she shook her head. "Are you suggesting you'll kill one of them soon?"

"If you don't give me a wedding date by sundown tomorrow that is exactly what I will do."

Cora left her with that and sauntered out of the chamber. Regina held back her tears that time, but it did nothing to abate the tightness in her chest or the sinking feeling in her gut. She had to tell someone. There was no way to protect Emma or her family with distance anymore. It was too late for that. They needed to know what they were up against. They needed to find another magical being or a way to strip Cora of her magic and fight the woman or they would lose something precious, they would lose a family member in a day's time.

She started to pace the chamber and wring her hands in front of herself. She stared down at the floor with wide eyes as she tried to decide who to tell first. It probably had to be Emma. It _should_ be Emma. If Regina wanted any kind of future with the blonde she had to be upfront about everything. It would be difficult to admit it all to the other princess, but hopefully Emma meant it when she said she wasn't giving up and that she was there for her.

As if she were a mind reader, there was a knock on her chamber door and a second later Emma peeked in.

"Am I intruding," Emma asked as she slowly started to enter the chamber.

"No," Regina stopped pacing and shook her head. "You aren't intruding."

Emma smiled then took in Regina's worried state and frowned. "Is everything alright?"

Regina gulped and glanced back and forth between Emma and the floor, unable to maintain eye contact with the blonde for more than a few seconds at a time. When Emma started to walk over to her, the door firmly shut behind her before she moved any further into the chamber, Regina shook her head in response to the younger princess' question.

"What is it," Emma asked and closed most of the space between them. Once they stood close enough for Emma to get a good look at her and notice her unshed tears as they welled up in her eyes, the blonde gasped. "What happened to your lip?"

It was time to tell her. She had the perfect opportunity to tell Emma why she preferred to spend time with her father and not her mother. From there she would easily be able to slip into the part of the conversation when she would warn Emma of how dangerous Cora Mills was and the threat she posed to her bloodline.

Emma tucked a finger under her chin and lifted it. Regina wasn't sure if it was to look into her eyes or to better assess the damage done to her lip, but Regina flicked her eyes up from the floor and they instantly locked gazes. Emma's eyes were full of concern and questions. She deserved all the answers and the slight peace of mind that came with knowing what she'd been kept in the dark about for so long, but lost all words as she stared into those beautiful green eyes. Well, she lost all the right words anyway.

"I bit it by accident," Regina told her.

Emma shook her head. "There's more you aren't telling me. Ever since we came back, and the fact that you didn't want to come back yesterday, something in you has changed. Where was the girl I spent all day eating and talking with today when we visited your father? Why are you suddenly hurt and frightened?"

"I'm not frightened," she lied.

"I saw the way you looked when your mother brought you up here."

"You don't know what you saw."

Emma scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Regina."

Regina exhaled and looked down as she tightly closed her eyes, a few tears squeezed out in the process. She shook her head as she lifted it again and then opened her eyes to look at Emma.

"It's _her_. It's my mother," Regina finally said.

"She did this to you," Emma asked and brought her hand up to the side of Regina's face but didn't fully reach out to touch it.

"I didn't lie before. I bit it, but…only because she slapped me."

"Oh gods," Emma exclaimed. "Does she hurt you often?"

Regina nodded.

"Is this the first time she's hurt you since you came to the palace?"

Regina shook her head and sniffled.

"Regina, why didn't you tell me," Emma asked before she pulled the brunette into a hug. "I'm so sorry. I will have my parents remove her from the palace at once."

"No, you can't," Regina said and pulled away from Emma. "Even if she left, she would just go back to my palace and she'll…she'll know I told and she'll hurt my father. She'll kill him."

Emma's eyes widened. "Is she the reason he's ill?"

"Yes," Regina answered through her tears.

Emma sighed and closed her eyes, her expression sympathetic.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," Regina quietly said and Emma opened her eyes.

"You're telling me now. That's all that counts."

Emma rubbed Regina's arms and it warmed the chill Regina only then realized she'd felt ever since Cora had pulled her upstairs to talk.

"How are your parents after our escapades today," Regina changed the subject.

Emma chuckled. "They weren't happy at first, but they're glad you've warmed up to me."

"_They _are or _you _are," Regina teasingly asked.

Emma smiled and replied, "A little of both, actually."

For a moment there was only silence as they looked at each other just as it had happened back at Regina's palace, but Emma's eyes wandered from Regina's eyes down to her lip. The blonde reached out again and ran the pad of her thumb over the cut.

Regina's breath hitched and their eyes immediately met in response to the sound.

"Does it hurt," Emma softly asked, the space between them almost nonexistent.

"No," Regina replied just as softly while her lip brushed against Emma's thumb.

Emma leaned in and then Regina eliminated the rest of the space between them as their lips met in a sweet and tender kiss.

Suddenly, anything else Regina had to say faded into the recesses of her mind and she melted into the kiss. She fell into Emma's arms and everything else ceased to exist beyond them and what was happening inside Regina's temporary bedchamber.

Emma placed a hand on Regina's hip and one on the brunette's upper back and pulled her closer until the distance between the rest of their bodies disappeared and they were melded together. Their lips brushed against each other with hardly any effort or pressure behind it, but the longer they remained in each other's arms the more heated their kisses became.

Regina tangled her fingers in blonde tresses and kissed Emma more fiercely, less innocently and with a previously unexplored passion. She gasped between kisses and rested a hand on Emma's shoulder while her other hand remained in Emma's hair. She kissed and kissed and kissed the other woman and then swiped her tongue over pink lips in an attempt to receive an invitation to the rest of Emma's mouth. It took only a couple of swipes before her silent request was granted and when their tongues first met, Regina moaned.

Regina blushed at the moan she'd let out, embarrassed by the sound, but she wasn't embarrassed enough to pull away quite yet.

Emma whimpered in response to Regina's moan and she started to claw at Regina's clothes where her hands rested to keep herself grounded and steady. She hummed after a few more flicks of their tongues then slowly parted from the kiss. A second later, she leaned forward again and pressed her forehead to Regina's. Her breath puffed against Regina's mouth and nose and Regina's breath occasionally hit her chin.

"Will anyone notice if you don't go back to your own chamber," Regina asked a moment later.

Emma's eyes popped open but she didn't move away from the brunette. "Eventually, yes, but we have time. If you want me to stay—"

"Yes," Regina didn't hesitate to confess. "I sleep much better with you by my side. Would you mind staying the night?"

"The entire night?"

"Yes." Regina frowned. "Will that be a problem?"

"No," Emma smiled. "I wanted to make sure I understood."

Regina smiled back and pulled Emma along with her toward the bed.

"This will be the second time we have slept together before the wedding," Emma joked.

Regina chuckled then said, "Third if you count your little nap in my chamber at my family's palace."

"I'd hardly call that a nap. My eyes were closed for a few minutes. That's it."

Regina laughed and shook her head.

"It was longer than a few minutes and you _did _fall asleep. I had to shake you awake before I checked on my father again."

Emma rolled her eyes and said, "If that's how you want to remember it."

Regina continued to smile and let it go. She knew she was right and so did Emma. The blonde was either too stubborn to admit it or just wanted to win an argument. It really didn't matter. It happened and Emma was so very calm when she slept against Regina's side earlier that day just as Regina had slept so peacefully against Emma's the day before at the cabin.

The bed in the chamber Regina had been provided with during her stay at the White's palace wasn't as big as Emma's or as Regina's own back home, but it still managed to fit two people. There was wiggle room to both the left and the right and it would take a significant effort to roll off one side or the other, but it wasn't as though there were miles of bed space between or beside them when both laid out on it.

Emma sat back against one of the pillows while Regina settled in on the other side of the bed and they fit a little snuggly in the space, but they weren't on top of each other. They were close but not uncomfortably close. Of course, it wasn't until they were both on the bed that they realized they hadn't changed into proper sleepwear. They were in a nice bed in clothes that smelled like the forest and the trusty steed they'd acquired for the day's journey. Neither of them had even taken off their riding boots yet.

"I think we missed a step," Emma laughed when she realized their mistake.

Regina looked them both over, first Emma and then herself. She closed her eyes and smiled before she also let out a laugh.

"I suppose we could either rectify that or remain as we are," Regina suggested.

"I'm already comfortable and if I leave this chamber to go to my own for more appropriate sleep attire then I risk being noticed and being unable to return."

"I believe I have a few options in the wardrobe," Regina pointed to the wardrobe that was all the way across the room.

Emma groaned and reluctantly rolled off the bed. She walked over to it and looked through their options.

"There is exactly one full outfit for sleep here," Emma noted and grabbed it. She closed the wardrobe and came back to the bed with it then held it out to Regina.

"So I automatically get to wear it," Regina asked. "It's not even mine."

"It doesn't matter whose it is, you should wear it. I'll stay in my riding clothes. It wouldn't be the first time I slept in them or a dress or anything other than the proper outfit."

Regina accepted the clothes and Emma sat back down on the bed.

"Thank you."

Emma smiled at her and said, "What are friends for?"

Regina lowered the outfit into her lap for a moment and leaned over. She kissed Emma who reclined on her elbow so she remained stuck between laying down and sitting. When Regina ended the kiss and pulled back, she set aside the outfit Emma forfeited to her and scooted toward the foot of the bed on her knees. She sat back on the heels of her feet when she was close enough to touch Emma's boots then started to unlace them.

"What are you doing," Emma asked as she furrowed her brow and watched Regina work her nimble fingers through her laces.

"You gave me the nightgown for tonight so I'm removing your boots for you."

"You don't have to do that. Just because I do something for you doesn't mean you have to do something for me. I'm not looking for repayment."

"But you shall have it," Regina insisted as she continued to unlace Emma's boots. "Lay back and enjoy, Princess. You have done so much for me. It's time I do something for you."

Emma hesitated, almost protested again, but decided to listen to Regina and slid off her elbows as she lowered herself onto her back on the bed. She laid out and waited for Regina to handle her boots, which she unlaced in no time at all.

Once the laces were undone, Regina pulled one boot off at a time and discarded them on the floor beside the bed.

"Be careful not to trip on those in the morning," Regina warned her as she moved back up the bed then threw her legs over the side, grabbed the nightgown, and stood up. She looked over her shoulder at Emma whose eyes hadn't left her the entire time she'd removed Emma's boots and gotten out of bed. "Mind looking elsewhere and giving a lady her privacy?"

"Oh, right. Sorry," Emma blushed then rolled onto her side and put her back to Regina.

Regina inwardly chuckled at the blonde's reaction then faced forward and started to strip down. She rid herself of her boots, her jacket, and her pants before she pulled away her shirt and left herself standing in nothing but her underwear.

"Are you decent yet," Emma asked without a hint of annoyance or desire for Regina to rush herself.

"Almost," Regina answered and threw the nightgown on over her head. She pulled the gown down past her thighs and it fell the rest of the way to the floor and covered her legs. "Decent now."

Regina knelt onto her side of the bed with one knee then slid in and laid down while Emma rolled back over to face her.

"I think there are a lot of people in this world who would have looked when I said almost," Regina said. "But not you."

"I respect you. If you wanted me to see you would have told me. Ask me to turn around and I will. Ask me to close my eyes and I will. Ask me to wait and I will."

"Chivalrous, committed, and loyal. I have never met a suitor quite like you."

"Mysterious, intense, and loves deeply. Nor have I ever met a suitor quite like you."

"One day I think I'd like to marry you," Regina dreamily confessed with a bright smile as they lay together, face to face, in the same bed.

Emma bit her lip even as she smiled just as brightly in return then whispered like it was a secret, "I think I'd already like to marry you."

Regina's smile started to fade, hit with the reminder that her mother's plan was for Regina to figure out a wedding date so they had a timeline to work with. That timeline would determine who would die when and Regina really didn't want her chance at happiness to be tainted with that. It was then or never.

"I… Emma, we can't—"

Emma frowned.

"We can't get married," Regina said. "I want to…I want to think that there will be a day when we can, but as long as my mother…"

Regina closed her eyes and sighed. She didn't know how to say what she had to and she wanted Emma to stay. Why couldn't Emma stay? Why couldn't she just be happy? Why she always have to say goodbye to what she loved?

"Whatever it is you can tell me," Emma assured her.

Regina took a deep breath and opened her eyes. She looked at Emma, mapped out her features and momentarily lost herself in green eyes, and wished more than anything that she could keep Emma like she hadn't been able to keep Daniel.

"My mother's only interest in your family is to put me in position of power," Regina finally blurted out. "She'll use our marriage to make me Queen and then she'll make all of your deaths look like tragic accidents or previously undetected health problems so I will be the sole ruler of this kingdom and no one will be the wiser that you died by her hand."

Emma stiffened and her eyes nearly popped out of her skull.

"She'll use me as her voice when dealing with the people, but she will ultimately be the one ruling. She has me under her thumb and I don't… Emma, I don't want to do this. I don't want to hurt anyone and I've tried my hardest to keep myself closed off when it came to you. I thought it would save you, but now she's given me until sundown to tell her when our ceremony will be or she'll do something unforgivable."

"So…this whole time you were here to ensure I would marry you just so you could deliver us to your mother like lambs to a slaughter?"

"That's why _my mother _wanted this arrangement to work. Before my mother and I came back here, I'd refused to leave with her. I'd told my mother that I wouldn't do what she asked and when she wouldn't listen to me, when she hit me for defying her orders, my father insisted I shouldn't have to do what she wanted. That's when she turned her anger on him and left him the way we saw him today."

Emma had thankfully at least stayed to hear the full story. She hadn't moved from the bed, but she wasn't as close to Regina as she had before the brunette had started to explain everything.

"I didn't want to like you," Regina continued when Emma didn't say anything. She had to make sure Emma understood. "I hoped that if I kept yelling at you or refused to talk to you that you would tell your parents to find you another suitor. I wanted _you _to call off the arrangement because by then I knew if I tried my mother would either hurt me or my father. She'd threatened me enough times about it on the carriage ride here."

Regina ran a hand through her hair then hugged her knees to her chest. She sat with Emma facing her side while she tried to calm her breathing. The more she talked about Cora's plan the more erratic it was. She feared she'd say one too many things and go into a panic attack from lack of oxygen in her lungs.

"You didn't call it off, though. You still wanted to be my friend no matter what I did and I…I really liked that despite my best efforts to push you away. That was…no one's ever done that for me before. It took my father _years _to finally stand up for me against my mother. You were willing to fight for our friendship before we'd really even known each other."

"You didn't want to like me so that maybe I had a chance of avoiding the fate your mother has mapped out for my family and I," Emma started to slowly restate what Regina had told her. She wanted to be very clear about all she'd heard. "And then when I insisted we be friends no matter if we married or not, you started to like me. But you never told me about your mother, you never told my parents about your mother, and just hoped it would all go away?"

Regina wanted to cry.

"It was foolish of me not to say anything sooner," she agreed with the blonde.

"Of course it was! I kept asking you what was wrong. I asked you to let me in and tell me anything. You told me bits and pieces, but you never told me we were in danger."

"I was afraid!"

"Of your mother or of what I would think of you?"

"Both," Regina sadly admitted then took a moment before she spoke again. "But I'm not afraid anymore."

Emma watched Regina go from the verge of more tears to appearing determined and adamant.

"You may hate me for being so dishonest and you may call all of this off, force me back to my own palace and never speak to me again, but I've told you now. You know that my mother wants you and your parents dead and I don't know what else I can do to help make sure that _doesn't _happen, but if you have any suggestions I will do everything I can. That is, if you even want my help."

Emma sat up with a sigh. She looked over at her boots on the floor and trailed her eyes over the nightgown she'd given Regina before she looked into chocolate brown eyes.

"When I kissed you it wasn't to further my mother's plan," Regina said last. "When I told you I sleep better with you by my side, I wasn't lying. I may have kept vital information from you, but the rest of what I said was all true. Maybe they were half-truths since most of it stemmed around what my mother wants me to do, but you still know me. I really do love horses, I love my father, I love riding, I do wish my life could just once be about me, and I…I just need you to know that."

She should have waited until morning to tell Emma. She should have been selfish just once in her life and should have enjoyed the last night of happiness she would probably ever know. Because once Emma knew everything she would leave. She would tell her parents after running from Regina's chamber and she would cast the brunette out in every way imaginable. At least she would always have the cabin and the day they spent with her father, the image of Emma on a horse and waiting for her solely because she knew what they had in mind for their day might cheer Regina up. At least she would have the memories of what real love looked like, because once Emma told her parents and the marriage was off it would probably be Regina's last day of light if not her last day alive.

"Okay," Emma calmly said.

Regina's eyebrows jumped toward her hairline. "Oh-Okay?"

Emma nodded.

"Wait, you're not…you're not mad," Regina asked.

"You should have told me sooner. I'm still a little mad about that," Emma admitted, "but like I said before, you told me. That's what counts. Now what exactly is your mother's plan and what can she do to hurt us?"

Regina blinked out a few more tears as she stared at Emma with a look of incredulousness and amazement. Seconds passed and she tried to accept the fact that Emma was still there. Emma hadn't run from her, hadn't rushed to tell her parents, she had stayed. Emma was still in bed with her and she wanted to talk it out. She still wanted to know everything no matter what it was. Just as Regina mostly hadn't lied to Emma, Emma hadn't lied to her. She really could tell Emma anything, it seemed.

So she did. She told Emma about Cora's magic and her need to work out a timeline so she could base the murders on when they would marry and what would look the least suspicious. She told Emma everything and when she was finished, it was well into the night. She'd had to whisper the part about how Cora wanted to kill them off one by one starting before and ending at least a year or two after the wedding.

"I think we have a full day ahead of us tomorrow," Emma said after Regina had shared all the information she had to offer. She shifted on the bed and pulled the sheets over herself. She squirmed around for a short time until she was comfortable and when she was settled on her back, she looked over at Regina. "We should probably get all the rest we can. We'll have to wake up early and talk to my parents about this. They'll have to call the Blue Fairy in and discuss all the magical solutions and then we'll have to find a way to keep Cora clueless until we're ready to strike."

Regina was baffled and speechless. Not only had Emma stayed to listen, but she still had every intention to stay through the night as she had previous agreed to do.

"Thank you," Regina whispered then laid down beside Emma. She wanted to kiss her and drape an arm over her, hold her close, but she wasn't sure if Emma thought to stay because she was too tired to leave or if she was nice enough to uphold her agreement to stay but would throw Regina out of the palace as soon as she could the next day.

Regina kept her hands to herself, but she felt more relaxed than she would have been if Emma had stormed out. She had Emma by her side and no matter the reason behind her decision, Emma still chose to stay.

* * *

The sun had barely started to show itself, but Emma was up and soon after so was Regina. For a while Regina had resisted, but Emma poked, smacked, and nudged her too many times to ignore. When she'd finally opened her eyes, Emma thought it would help things along if she childishly blew in her ear and jumped on the bed to jar her so far and aggressively from sleep she would have to accept the new day was upon them.

Regina grudgingly did accept that, but she was also slow to sit up. She wanted to stay in bed a little longer. She wanted to come up with a plan to stop her mother, but she really just wanted to bask in the glow of the morning before she had to deal with something so dark and ugly. She grumbled and heard a laugh from the right of her in response. Emma apparently found her grumpy mood funny.

"I think I should be calling _you _Princess. You certainly act like one."

"I _am _one. I'm just not heir to my family's throne." Suddenly, a realization dawned on her like the new day. "I don't understand. My family can offer a fine dowry, but politically your family gains nothing from me as your wife."

"That's not entirely true."

Regina frowned, further confused.

"You are still of royal birth therefore our marriage would bind two royal bloodlines. More importantly, I refused to marry any of the men my parents brought around after I met you."

Regina's eyebrows shot up.

"It wasn't just because I liked you," Emma continued. "It also had to do with the fact that all those suitors offered me nothing I wanted. You were the only one I saw promise with so I forced my parents' hand. I convinced them to reach out to your mother. Your mother—which now I truly understand her desperation to make this match—was more than happy to comply with the request to return here."

"You asked for me?"

"Is it so hard to believe that someone other than your father actually likes your company?"

"Well…yes."

Emma frowned. "What about Daniel?"

"He was the only other one," Regina answered. "But I told him to run and he ran. My mother was going to kill him and I thought if one of us should be harmed in any way because of her it should be me."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

Regina shook her head. "It happened. Nothing I could ever do can change that. I just hope he's happy wherever he is now. He's safe from her. That's all that matters to me."

"But you truly liked him?"

"It was becoming more than _like_, the way I felt abouthim. …But," Regina switched back to the previous topic. "I understand that _you _wanted me back here. Why did your parents agree?"

Emma smiled and after moment said, "Because as much as they want to make all the right moves for the kingdom, they also want me to have the kind of happiness and love they have in each other. The more I talked to them about you, the more receptive they became to dealing with your mother. They thought if it would make me happy that it might be wise to set up this entire week for us to bond. They figured if you could prove yourself worthy of both me and the kingdom, it didn't matter what political ties we made. It just mattered that you have a good head on your shoulders and that you could make me happy in at least some respect."

"I suppose I ruined that chance," Regina sadly muttered.

Emma reached out and grabbed Regina's hands. She pulled the brunette out of bed and onto her feet with hardly any space between them.

"They won't like that you kept this from them, but you _can_ be forgiven," Emma assured her. She rubbed her thumbs over Regina's wrists and stared into brown eyes with confidence and determination. She believed the words she spoke and she also had a second message within them. Not only could Emma's parents forgive Regina, but Emma could forgive her, too.

Regina definitely should have told Emma sooner. All of the anguish and nausea she felt while keeping that secret and then revealing it only to worry that Emma would leave her could have been avoided or lessened. If only she'd told her sooner.

"Get dressed," Emma's voice brought Regina back to the present. "We'll need to speak to my parents at once. And my handmaid will stop by my chamber soon. If she realizes I'm not in it, there will be talk when someone catches us coming out of your chamber before speaking to my parents."

Regina nodded and went over to the wardrobe. She picked out one of two remaining outfits for the week.

"Will you need one or are you rushing off to your chamber for clothes as well as an alibi," Regina asked over her shoulder.

"I'll get dressed in my chamber. If I break routine it may look questionable."

"Mm. So is this how you always managed to leave your letters before I awoke? You were up at least an entire hour before me?"

Emma smiled almost from ear to ear.

"I sometimes like to walk around the palace garden while the sun rises. I run my fingers through the dew-covered blades of grass and smell the fresh morning air. I find it to be the best way to start the day."

"You're giving that up today," Regina noted with a frown. "It's my fault."

"Not every day has to start the same for it to be a good day."

"But this day surely won't end well. My mother is a monster."

"Maybe, but if we prevail I think it will end just well enough to count as good day. Worry not, Regina. Things aren't spectacular at the moment, but we still have a chance to change things."

Hope. Emma had it and Regina usually didn't, but ever since she came back for the opportunity to connect with the blonde princess she had found a reason to have it. She had found the ability in herself to hope for the best even when things seemed darkest.

Emma went off to her chamber and Regina changed into her outfit for the day. After several minutes, Emma knocked on her door. There wasn't a note in her hand like there was the previous day, but she honestly didn't need one. Emma had told Regina everything the brunette needed to know and Emma's mere presence through all of what was happening was enough of a friendly, not-quite-love letter filled with beautiful and awe-inspiring sentiments for Regina.

"Ready," Emma asked and held out a bowed arm to her.

Regina looked from Emma to her proffered arm. She stepped forward and hooked her arm in Emma's. "As I'll ever be."

Emma guided Regina through the halls to her parents' chamber with their arms linked and Regina took several deep breaths to calm herself. She looked around the palace as they made their way toward the chamber, on the lookout for Cora, and when they reached the door without incident Regina finally exhaled with the smallest bit of relief.

The doors opened a short time after Emma knocked and her parents weren't quite ready for the day, but they were dressed. Their hair was a little askew, bedhead for both of them, and the Queen didn't have her makeup on, but both of her parents smiled when they saw who had interrupted their morning routine. The handmaid who had opened the door for them stepped aside and allowed them to enter upon the Queen's insistence and closed the door behind them once they were inside.

"Don't you two look lovely together," the King smiled at them as he straightened out his shirt then ran a hand through his wayward hair. "Have you come to tell us something?"

Regina ducked her head, but Emma stood by her and kept her chin up and their arms linked.

"We have some disheartening news," Emma told them. "Maybe we speak privately?"

The handmaid and her father's assistant looked to their King and Queen for approval of Emma's request. Both royals nodded and the handmaid and assistant were dismissed.

"What is this about," Charming asked once the four of them were alone.

"Regina tells me her mother is planning an attack on our family."

Snow stood and left her place at her vanity to stand beside her husband as they both looked between Emma and Regina with wide eyes.

"Regina? Is this true," Snow asked.

Regina slowly looked up again with a nervous look in her eyes then nodded confirmation.

"She has magic," Emma continued to inform them of the danger they faced. "She may use it against us. She hasn't hesitated to use it against her own daughter so there's no telling what she'll do to us."

Snow's expression went from disbelief to sorrow and sympathy as she regarded Regina.

"She uses magic on you," Snow carefully asked in a soft tone.

Regina only nodded again as an answer.

"Oh, poor dear," Snow said, and Charming wrapped an arm around his wife in response. "Well, does she know for certain that Cora plans an attack?"

"She wants to kill you," Regina hoarsely spoke up, finally. "It's been her plan all along. I did what I thought was best to prolong her plan, but I'm afraid it's no longer working. She wants to ensure this marriage happens and then she will end all of your lives so I can control the throne. She wants me to be the sole ruler because she herself wants to be Queen, but she's fifth in line for the title in our family."

"You've known since we invited you into our home that she wants us dead," Charming asked, a flash of anger in his eyes.

"Yes, but I tried to get Emma to break the arrangement. I thought if you or she thought I was horrible that you would send my mother and I back to my palace and then you would be safe. Emma was stubborn, though. I didn't know what else to do. I wanted to tell you, all of you, but my mother frightens me. She's an awful person."

Charming huffed out a sigh through his nose.

"We don't need to concern ourselves with _why_ Regina didn't come to us sooner," Emma stepped in. "We need to concern ourselves with _how _we're going to stop Cora."

Treason. Regina knew deep down that what Cora had planned wasn't only terrible and wrong, but also a crime. Anyone guilty of treason or attempt of treason was executed. If Emma's parents found a way to trap Cora, that day would be the day she lost her mother for good. She didn't want to feel bad about it, didn't want it to eat away at her like some nasty disease because her mother deserved it, but for everything Cora had done to her and her father and the threat she was to anyone in power as long as she had Regina to use as a pawn in her chess game, Cora Mills was still her mother. As heartless as Cora seemed to be, especially when it came to her own daughter, she was still her mother, and Regina never wanted any of it. She didn't want to be used by her mother, abused by her mother, didn't want to have to witness her mother be accused of treason and sentenced to death, didn't want to watch her mother stand before a firing squad. She'd only ever wanted to be free, to be happy.

And now the day had come. Her mother was already a bit of a lost cause. Eighteen years and Regina never once felt the woman's love, but that day unfortunately marked the end of Cora Mills' existence. With her final breath, Cora would also take away any chance, no matter how big or how small, that maybe Regina would know what it was like to truly be loved by her mother without pain, without suffering, without evil schemes, without fear of consequences when Regina didn't do exactly every wrong thing that Cora wanted her to do.

"Are you okay," Emma asked and gently jostled Regina's arm to get her attention.

Regina gulped and nodded, but a tear slid down her cheek without any preamble. She hadn't experienced any of the usual feelings inside herself before she cried and yet there was a tear.

Emma wiped it away with the pad of her thumb and unlinked their arms to supportively, reassuringly, grip Regina's bicep.

"I don't want her to die," Regina confessed, her voice nothing more than a raspy whisper. She looked right at Emma as she repeated for at least the third time in a single week, "I don't want to hurt anyone."

Anyone. Most of the time Regina had only meant that she didn't want to hurt Emma and her parents, but in that moment "anyone' extended to her own mother.

"She _will _need to be punished," Snow said.

"I know, but…I don't want her to _die_. She's my _mother_." Regina looked up with wet and pleading eyes.

"Show Cora mercy," Emma begged and moved her hand from Regina's bicep to wrap her arm around the brunette. "Strip her magic or bind it, whatever it is the Blue Fairy can do, and then lock her up or banish her somewhere. Just spare her life. For Regina."

Snow and Charming looked at their daughter before their eyes slid to Regina and then back to Emma.

"We will consider our options," Snow told them. "We need to confer with Blue. You two should head downstairs for breakfast. We will be there as soon as we decide the best solution."

Regina nodded and choked back a sob before it could escape then felt Emma carefully usher her out of the chamber.

Cora was malicious and Cora failed to make Regina feel safe and truly loved, but she claimed that what she had planned was all for Regina. It might have been a twisted sense of loving her, but she seemed to love and care enough about Regina's well-being that she took excessive measures to ensure her daughter was well off. Sure, Cora also benefitted from that, but maybe her mother really was trying to give her only the best, give her everything Cora herself hadn't achieved. Again, Regina had convinced herself that no matter what Cora had done and still wanted to do, she was still her mother. One day her mother would pass away and so would her father, but not by execution. Not by beatings, either magical or not like her father almost was. They could die natural deaths when it was their time. Regina didn't want to be an orphan any time soon, especially if she was exiled from the White's palace with no one to go home to.

As Emma and Regina left the King and Queen's chamber, Regina burrowed her head into the crook of Emma's neck and tried to fight back her tears. Cora would know something was wrong if she witnessed such an emotional display from her daughter.

Emma tightened her grip on Regina and whispered into her ear, "Shhh. It's going to be okay. It's going to be okay."

* * *

Emma left her for one moment. She went to tell the cook to prepare an early breakfast and perhaps retrieve drinks for them while they waited for her parents to come to a decision.

That one moment was a moment too long. Regina was completely alone when Cora emerged in the dining room entryway. The woman didn't look upset or suspicious, but as soon as Regina heard her mother's voice she immediately went tense.

"Good morning, dear."

Chills shot down her spine and Regina closed her eyes as if not seeing her would make Cora disappear like a silent wish fulfilled.

"How's your princess? Have you discussed a date yet?"

Regina didn't know what to say. She wanted to keep quiet, but that would only make her mother angry. She couldn't lie to her mother, either. Cora read her so well. She would instantly know it was a lie and then all Hell would most likely break loose.

"No," Regina said and started to tremble.

Cora balked then slithered into the dining room with a scowl directed at Regina. The younger woman felt her mother's rage behind brown eyes like her own, though Regina's were filled trepidation.

"I thought I made this all perfectly clear to you last night," Cora growled.

"And I thought I made it clear that I don't want to do this," Regina warily argued.

"You are only a child. You don't know what you want. You don't know what you _should _want."

"Please don't do this," Regina quietly begged.

"Don't do what, dear? _This_," Cora said before she flicked her wrist and forced Regina's chair to fall back.

Regina landed hard on her back on top of the wooden dining room chair. With another flick of Cora's wrist, she slid on her back across the floor toward one of the walls in the dining room wall and only managed to bang her shoulder against the entryway to the hall that led to the kitchen because she tucked her head to her chest as soon as possible.

"Or don't kill your precious Emma," Cora asked as she walked up to Regina until she successfully towered over her daughter.

Regina scrambled into a sitting position, but Cora forced her to stand with a third flick of her wrist. But Regina soared a little higher than the floor. Her feet dangled in the air as Cora magically levitated Regina in the entryway.

"Mother, please stop this," Regina tearfully pleaded.

Cora flicked her free wrist, her other hand held up in front of her to maintain Regina's position by magical means, and the sliding doors to the dining room closed with a slight bang.

"I have waited long enough for this day and you will not ruin it. I have given you every opportunity to gain that which I couldn't and yet you don't _want it_? Love can't save you. Love can't protect you. Power can. By trying to give you that, I was protecting you, but you have pushed me away at every turn, defied me whenever you saw fit. You don't want my protection? Fine, but I will not suffer because you don't want the same guarantees in life as I do."

Cora summoned a knife from the dining room table and floated it toward Regina. She pressed it to Regina's throat with her magic, but didn't move it left or right. She just held it there and applied just enough pressure to Regina's throat to get her point across.

"You will marry her no matter how either of you feel for each other and you will gain all that she and her family have to offer. You will take everything from her and I will be at your side as you then take the throne. Snow White's mother never should have been crowned. If she hadn't then I wouldn't need you to ensure you and I have the best life this world has to offer."

"But what about Daddy?"

Cora scoffed and said, "Your father is only a means to an end. I produced his heir, the good that did anyone since he's the youngest in his family. I could never love him. Even if I still had my heart, I could never love that man."

Regina gasped.

"You don't… How could you not have your heart?"

Cora smirked.

"As I've told you, love is weakness. I didn't want to any weakness so I removed my heart, kept it somewhere safe, and did what needed to be done so that I could have what I deserve."

"Then…without your heart…you could never love _me_."

"Oh, Regina, stop being so dramatic. Does it matter whether or not my heart is in my chest? Honestly, you still don't take away what's most important about all of this."

Regina sniffled and tried to hold back tears while her expression hardened with determination and fury.

"I won't let you hurt them," Regina stated and balled her fists at her sides while she remained in Cora's magical grip.

"What makes you think you have a choice in this," Cora darkly chuckled. "They will all die even if you _tried _to stop me. But we both know you are as _spineless_ and _weak_ as your pathetic father. You _can't _stop me, just as he couldn't and never will."

Cora pulled the knife away from Regina's throat and brought it down to Regina's hip. With a deft movement of her index and middle fingers, the knife slashed across Regina's side and stomach and cut open the fabric of her borrowed dress.

Regina cried out.

"Don't you see? You could have _everything _so many would die to have. You would be set for life," Cora tried to reason with her.

"Not at the expense of innocent lives," Regina argued and shook her head.

"They aren't _innocent_!"

"Emma is," Regina stated with the most certainty she'd ever had in all her life. "The King and Queen have done nothing to make me think they're bad people. So who exactly isn't innocent in this?"

Cora grinded her teeth for a moment then she snarled, "You are my biggest regret." She readied her hand to send the knife into another attack, but a second later she was on the ground.

Emma barreled into Cora with all her weight centered against Cora's torso. She knocked the older woman to the ground and had her on her back in no time after she flew out of the hallway between the kitchen and the dining room undetected. She had to duck and pass beneath Regina's feet in order to make it into the dining room at all, which explained how she was able to tackle Cora at such an angle. She didn't realize that by throwing Cora to the ground, however, that Regina also fell with her. She didn't take the time to consider that when she bared her teeth in a feral expression as she regarded the elder Mills either.

"Leave her alone," Emma shouted.

Cora shoved Emma away and magic shot out from the older woman's hands. It threw Emma back the way she came and she crashed onto the floor then rolled until she was almost on top of Regina.

Before either princess could gather themselves, there were fists and open-palms booming against the closed dining room doors.

"Emma! Emma, are you alright," her mother yelled through the door.

"Looks like our previously _unestablished _timeline has just moved up," Cora said and looked right at Regina as she did. "The King and Queen shall die today and the princess shall marry you sooner rather than later. If she doesn't, you both will pay dearly."

Cora headed for the sliding doors.

Regina hurried to her feet just as Cora raised her hands and the dining room doors flew open. Snow and Charming stumbled in from the unexpected permission into the dining room. Her mother attempted another burst of magic, but Regina jumped onto her back and wrapped her arms around Cora's neck and shoulders. She grabbed Cora's wrists and fought to keep the woman's hands pointed at each other so she couldn't cause any more trouble with her magic.

"No," Regina screamed. "This ends now!"

Cora bucked and growled. She elbowed Regina where she had cut her daughter with the knife and Regina yelped in pain but strongly held on. She jabbed Regina with her elbow a few more times in the same spot and after a particularly harsh blow, Regina cried out, released her mother, and slumped down onto the floor.

Regina fell onto her back and curled into herself as she held a hand against her wound. Blood started to seep through the dress and the slit created by the knife's blade.

Cora turned her attention to Regina once again, her eyes full of fire and rage and murderous intent.

Then, suddenly, there was a blue glow and twinkling blue particles that surrounded Cora like an aura. Regina's eyes widened and so did Cora's. Her mother let out a strangled groan and she visibly tensed as though she'd just been struck. A few moments later, Regina realized she had been stuck. By magic.

Cora cursed and spun around to face Snow and Charming and beside them there was a small fairy in a blue dress with a faint blue glow around her. She floated beside Snow's head with her hands coiled around a wand and a grim look on her face.

"Why you little _gnat_," Cora spat out.

"Cora Mills," Snow announced with a loud, strong, queenly voice. "You are found guilty of treason."

"You should be executed," Charming said with fierce determination.

"No," Regina weakly protested as Emma helped her sit up. She shook her head and looked at the scene as it played out before her.

Charming, Snow, and the Blue Fairy all glanced over at Regina then focused once again on Cora.

"But due to extenuating circumstances," Snow continued, "we hereby, and just did, bind your magic. We _banish _you from the kingdom and furthermore, banish you from this realm. If you find your way back and hurt either our family…or your own, we will not hesitate to put you to death."

"No. No, this can't be happening," Cora said more to herself than to anyone else in the room. A moment later she turned back to her daughter who remained on the floor. Emma was on her knees behind the brunette with an arm wrapped around her upper body and ran her hand through Regina's hair. "You did this."

Cora's eyes never left Regina's and while Regina looked small as she sat on the floor and leaned back against Emma, her daughter no longer looked afraid. She appeared miserable about things, but she also seemed to already accept Cora's punishment.

"Guards," Charming called out, and two guards marched into the dining room. "Take Cora to the dungeons while we retrieve a realm jumper and decide which she will be banished to."

Cora shuffled back a few steps in one last futile attempt to maintain her freedom, but the guards roughly grabbed her by the arms and removed her from the room.

"Are you okay," Snow asked while Charming approached the girls and extended a hand to Regina.

Regina looked Charming over for a moment before she gave in and placed her hand in his. He helped Regina stand up while she continued to hold her side where Cora injured her.

"Yes, I'm fine," Regina slowly answered while she grit her teeth through the pain standing up caused her. "Thank you."

Regina looked up at Charming then past him to acknowledge Snow. She looked like a lost puppy trying to find a home. She wasn't sure what Emma's parents would do with her. Cora was rendered harmless and they had nothing more to worry about except for one loose end: Regina.

"You may take some time here to heal," Snow said and nodded to Regina's wound. "After that we will allow you safe passage in one of our carriages back to your palace."

"What? No," Emma protested and stepped up to be right beside Regina.

Charming and Snow stared at Emma with confused expressions and questioning gazes.

"She saved you," Emma defended her. "She didn't tell us about Cora's plan, but she was honest about everything else."

"Emma, we can't allow you to marry her," Charming carefully informed her. "She may not have wanted the same thing her mother did, but her presence here was just as much of a threat considering she was raised by that woman. There's no telling what she'll do in the future."

"She won't hurt us," Emma insisted. "That much I know. Of that much I am _certain_. Our story might be far different from yours, but I believe she and I have a chance at happiness together. I don't want to sit through anymore conversations or negotiations with any other suitors. I want Regina. My forever friend."

Emma turned to Regina when she said that last part and Regina gasped.

"You…you really still want to marry me? After all that's happened," Regina asked.

"I do," Emma smiled.

"Why?" Regina was still in shock and she couldn't understand how anyone would want to stay with someone like her. All Regina did was bring pain and suffering, all because of her mother. Even with Cora out of the way, it didn't change the fact that Regina had still put Emma and her parents at risk, especially because she had waited so long to tell them. Why would anyone want to stay with her after that?

Emma took both of Regina's hands in hers and replied, "Siempre estaré aquí para ti."

Regina was speechless.

"Was that…Spanish," Charming asked and looked to his wife who appeared just as lost as him.

"I've said that from the beginning," Emma continued, "and I meant it. I still mean it and I will always mean it."

Regina sniffled as she tried to inhale, tears of joy ready to fall at any moment.

"Marry me," Regina breathed out with a smile.

Emma smiled back and chuckled.

"I thought I was the one proposing," Emma teasingly asked.

Regina laughed and bit her lip as a few tears streamed down her face.

Snow slowly walked over to stand by her husband and the two of them watched as Emma pulled Regina into a kiss. Charming wrapped an arm around her waist and both were astonished by the way both girls smiled between sweet, loving kisses.

Emma and Regina tasted salt as they kissed away each other's tears, though it had never been their focus when they pressed their lips together. After a few long, emotion-filled kisses, Emma rested her forehead against Regina's and smiled yet again at the brunette.

"Are you ready now," Emma asked.

"For what?"

"To be by my side, as my friend, ruling together. …Are you ready to spend forever with me?"

Regina took a deep breath and contentedly sighed. She smiled and said, "Nothing would make me happier…Princess."

Emma laughed and a second later looked over at her parents. There was a flicker of doubt and sadness when she looked at them, worried they wouldn't approve and would send Regina away regardless of what she wanted.

"Well, it looks like we have a wedding to plan," Charming said as looked from Emma and Regina to Snow, and

Just like that, Emma's smile returned brighter than before. And finally, Regina felt free.

* * *

**Note: Epilogue to follow at some point and it won't be as long as this chapter, but I'm not sure how soon that will be. Thanks for reading, following, and adding this story to your favorites!**


	5. Epilogue

**A/N: Turns out I had enough energy in me to write out this short and sweet ending tonight. Also, in the last chapter I called Geppetto by his cursed, Storybrooke name and realized it when working on this chapter. I corrected it the last chapter and have it written as Geppetto in this one as well so if you read it before it was corrected, know that Marco and Geppetto are the same person and in this story and because it's the Enchanted Forest his name is really Geppetto.**

* * *

Bathed in the beautiful sunlight of a fresh day, Emma looked stunning. She was absolutely breathtaking as her blonde curls swayed in the summer breeze and her fingers skimmed the tips of the tallest blades of grass as she gathered morning dew on her hand. Her smile lit up Regina's entire world. It was vibrant and infectious and the way Emma looked right then, Regina understood how the younger woman felt about the start of a good day. She wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of life waking up every morning to catch the sunrise with her beloved while she watched Emma bask in the heavenly sight of nature.

Regina reclined on a lounge chair placed on the patio a short but good distance from the concrete stairs that led to the back entrance of the palace. The backyard extended out to the beach, but to ensure the royal family's safety there was a large gate that separated the yard from the shore to deter intruders and if anyone wanted to walk along the beach they were escorted by at least one guard. It was a tranquil environment on an equally tranquil morning and Regina was relaxed and blissful. She was more than content to waste away the day with her eyes focused on Emma, always on Emma, but she personally wouldn't call that a waste.

She continued to watch as Emma walked barefoot through the grass and smiled at the flowers in bloom and anything dew-covered she managed to get her hands on. Emma had always seemed happy and carefree, but Regina saw the change. She was happier and more carefree that ever before and she glowed. She had a handful of bad days when she doubted herself, her looks, and how rich their lives actually were because inside she felt awful, but no matter what she knew that Emma wouldn't trade what she had for anything in any world. And neither would Regina.

"Would you like a drink, mija," Henry asked as he came up to Regina's side with a silver platter with three glasses of assorted drinks.

Regina turned and smiled at him as she reached for a glass.

"Thank you, Daddy."

Henry smiled back at her and set the tray aside on the small table beside the plush lounge chair.

"Emma, darling, care for a drink," Henry called to the blonde across the yard.

Emma turned to Henry and Regina and beamed. Her only response was to walk over to them and abandon her usual morning entertainment. When her feet left the soft grass and stepped onto the patio concrete, much closer to Regina and Henry then she'd been since she and Regina had gone outside, she raised a hand to her stomach and rubbed soothing circles over the well-rounded bump that protruded between her hips and breasts.

"How are you feeling today, my love," Regina asked and sat up in her chair before she threw her legs over either side of it. She patted the cushion that covered the chair in the space between her legs and Emma settled between her legs.

"Wonderful," Emma said as she leaned back against her wife of almost two years.

Regina smiled and brushed a few strands of Emma's hair out of her face. Emma closed her eyes and sighed as she further melted into Regina.

"I'm glad," Regina said before she planted a kiss on Emma's head then rested her head against the back of the chair.

"And my grandson," Henry smiled and leaned over. He placed a hand on Emma's stomach and the blonde chuckled.

"He's just waking up it seems," Emma replied and took Henry's hand in both of hers then slid them across her stomach to where the boy kicked against her.

"He's kicking?" Regina's voice with excitement in love when she leaned forward and tried to feel for herself.

Emma let go of one of Henry's hands to take Regina's and placed the brunette's hand right beside her father's so they both could feel the little one.

Regina beamed and rested her chin on Emma's shoulder.

"He's a strong and feisty one, isn't he," Henry noted with a hint of laughter.

"Definitely very active," Emma stated then turned her head and waited for Regina to move back a little bit. When Regina lifted her chin from the blonde's shoulder and pulled away to look at Emma, the younger woman smiled and pecked her on the lips.

Regina immediately smiled when Emma's lips touched hers and continued to smile even after they parted.

Cora had been banished to Wonderland as her punishment for crimes against the King and Queen. She'd been taken through the portal by the only known realm jumper in the Enchanted Forest named Jefferson. Cora wasn't exactly forbidden to return, but it was implied that Snow and Charming never wanted to see her again. Regina, on the hand, wanted her mother to return if she ever had the courage to put her heart back in her chest and even said as much to Cora before they parted ways. She wasn't optimistic that anything would change or that Cora would ever come back for any reason, but she continued to have hope that maybe someday her mother would prove her wrong.

A week before Cora had been sent off to Wonderland—on the same day Emma and Regina had officially become engaged, after Cora's attack—Emma asked the Blue Fairy to heal Regina's father then asked her parents if he could stay with all of them. Both requests were granted and Regina practically swooned at how incredible the other woman truly was. She had never underestimated Emma's charm and chivalry, but it always amazed her to know that there was someone out there that had so much of it and Regina was lucky enough to have found her.

A month after Cora had left the palace, Emma and Regina had a huge ceremony with most of the kingdom in attendance. Their guest of honor, however, was Regina's fully healed and extremely teary-eyed and jovial father. Charming had walked Emma down the aisle first and a few moments later, Henry walked Regina down the aisle to meet her spectacular bride. They were one of the first same-sex couples in the Enchanted Forest. While same-sex marriage wasn't unheard of there, it was still rare to see. It usually only happened if it was True Love or if both families had a lot to gain from the pairing. There was no way for either Emma or Regina to tell if what they had was the magical True Love Emma's parents had, but it felt real and true to both of them regardless of whether or not fate or destiny had designed it that way.

Seven months ago, when they conceived their son with a little magical aid from the Blue Fairy—but mostly just from themselves and the love they felt for each other—they knew whatever they had, it was powerful. They loved each other enough to make a child out of magic Emma didn't know she had and a sip or two from a potion that was only supposed to make the body more susceptible to magical conception.

When they told their both of their parents the good news, Snow White had offered a pendant she'd been given when she found out she was pregnant with Emma. It could tell if the baby was either a boy or a girl and for one day every other week during Emma's first three months of pregnancy, they continued to use the pendant to ensure it always had the same outcome. Emma held the pendant by the chain and both women waited with baited breath for it swing either back and forth or side to side. They stood outside when it rained and when it was sunniest, when it was cloudiest and when it was windiest. They stood outside when it was hot and when it was bone-chilling cold. No matter where they stood, they always faced north and each time produced the same result. It was a boy.

In the sixth month, on one of Emma's not so happy days, Regina cheered her up by taking her to the cabin and presenting her with stuffed animals and all kinds of other toys for the baby provided by the White's family friend Geppetto. While they were there, Regina lured Emma outside—because she refused to leave the cabin and barely managed to make it out of the palace to get there in the first place—with the small comfort of checking to see that they were still having a boy. They waited as Emma held up the pendant and sure enough it swung the same way it always had. They were having a son and just to prove he loved being thought about, he danced around inside Emma as soon as both women smiled in response to the familiar and expected results.

"Aren't you glad I didn't give up on finding a solution to our issue of potentially not being able to bear any heirs," Emma grinned as Regina's hand slid off of her stomach and the two rested together on the lounge chair.

"So very, very glad, my love," Regina said and swept blonde hair off of Emma's shoulder before she placed a kiss on lightly freckled skin.

"I told you there was a way for you have what you desired," Emma added.

"Mm, you would have been enough. But now we're having a child, our little prince, and no words can describe how elated I feel about that," Regina replied.

"Well then, maybe you should carry the next one."

Regina's eyebrows shot into her hairline.

"The next one? Shouldn't we focus on this child first?"

Emma laughed and grabbed one of Regina's hands. She brought it to her lips and kissed her open palm and then her wrist, above her pulse.

"We will, but wouldn't it be nice if little Henry had a brother or sister to play with?"

Regina thought about it while Emma continued to kiss the pulse point on her wrist, and not so innocently the longer it took Regina to answer her. "I suppose that would be nice."

Emma grinned and turned more toward Regina before she leaned in and kissed her wife on the lips.

"We can wait until he's about three. Maybe teach him a word or two in Spanish and then we can have another one to love and watch run around the garden and at the cabin," Emma added.

"And _who's_ going to teach him Spanish," Regina rhetorically asked with an amused look on her face. "You only know one sentence in Spanish so I don't think there's a 'we' in teaching him unless by 'we' you meant my father and me."

"You didn't let me finish," Emma smiled. "Maybe teach him a word or two in Spanish and I'll learn with him. And I'll learn with him, mi amor."

Henry burst into laughter beside them and Emma and Regina looked at him with bright smiles before they laughed with him.

"Te amo, mis queridas," Henry said.

"Te amo," both of them repeated in sync.

"Emma," Charming called as he made his way down the stairs and onto the patio. "Your breakfast is ready. Will you be having it inside or out here?"

"Could you have someone bring it out here, please?"

Charming smiled and nodded.

"I'll bring you a plate, too, Regina," Charming said. "Want anything, Henry?"

"Oh, I'll come with you," Henry made his way toward Charming. "I'm sure the girls wouldn't mind a moment alone."

Charming clapped a hand against Henry's back as the other man walked into step beside him and the two of them headed up the stairs and back into the palace together.

Emma wiggled around between Regina's legs and resituated herself so her back rested against Regina's front and her head was on Regina's shoulder.

Regina wrapped her arms around Emma and placed her hands on her belly. Emma rested her hands on top of Regina's and closed her eyes as the sunlight washed over the backyard and the breeze gently rustled the leaves on the lush trees all around them. After a moment, Emma opened her eyes again and looked down at her stomach.

"Te amo, Little Prince," Emma quietly told him.

Regina smiled against Emma's cheek then gave it a peck.

"Te _queremos_," Regina corrected, and Emma lifted a hand from her stomach to lace her fingers with Regina. "We love you, Henry."

* * *

**Note: I know there are plenty of people who don't really like magical pregnancies, but I thought it fit this story, especially when I mentioned it in a previous chapter that the two of them having a baby might not be as far-fetched as most people in the Enchanted Forest might think.**

**Thank you all so much for reading and for all of your much appreciated feedback.**


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